moonlit twilight Bella swans Destiny
by anbaxelsa1994
Summary: Set in an alternate universe where Bella has always lived in Forks. She meets Edythe Cullen and her Destiny is sealed. Bella has a choice embrace her fate to be with her soulmate or keep away from Edythe. Bella knows Edythe is dangerous but it might be to late to turn back now. Book 1 of the Bellas destiny saga
1. first sight

My mother drove me to the airport with the windows rolled down. It was eighty-five degrees in Phoenix, the sky a strange, cloudless blue, at least to me. In spite of spending the last two and a half months with my mother, I was used to the clouds. I was wearing my favorite shirt – a vintage long-sleeved sweatshirt with some odd logo on it from back in the seventies. It was a bit hot to be wearing, but I was ready to go home.

In the Olympic Peninsula of northwest Washington state, a small town named Forks exists under a near constant cover of clouds. It rains on this inconsequential town more than any other place in the United States of America. It was from this town with it's omnipresent shade that my mother had ran from when I was only a few months old. It was in this town that I'd spent almost the entirety of my life, excepting one month every summer until I was fourteen. That was when I finally put my foot down, the three summers after I turned fourteen, my mom, Renee, had flown up to Seattle for two weeks instead.

This year had been different though, this year mom had gotten remarried. She had insisted that I be her maid of honor and had then insisted I go with her on their – two month long – honeymoon. So, for the last two and a half months, I have been with her. I'd missed the first month and a half of school because of her insistence.

It was to Forks that I now was to return – an action I was more than ready for. I'd been away from home for far too long.

I couldn't say I would miss Phoenix. Between the sun, the blistering heat, and the overpopulation, I truly detested Phoenix.

"Bella," my mom said to me – the last of a thousand times – before I got on the plane. "You know you could stay, Phoenix has some great schools with excellent classes."

My mom looked like me, except with short hair and laugh lines. I felt a spasm of panic as I stared at her wide childlike eyes. After these last two and a half months, I'd realized how much she needed a caretaker, almost as much as dad. Could I really leave my erratic, harebrained mother to fend for herself again? Of course, she had Phil now, so the bills would probably get paid, there would be food in her refrigerator, gas in her car, and someone to call when she got lost, but still...

"Mom, I can't stay. Dad needs me, and besides, I prefer the weather there."

It was an idea that completely boggled my mother's mind. She'd worked so hard to escape the dreary weather of Washington, leaving behind her infant child in her desire to escape, but it was the truth. It was obvious because I was a worse liar than my mom and dad combined. "Tell Charlie I said hi."

"I will."

"I'll see you soon." She insisted, though we both knew it was a lie. It wouldn't be until summer, if she even bothered to come to Seattle next year. "You can come back to Phoenix whenever you want – I'll come whenever you need me."

She wouldn't though, she couldn't even come up to Forks for one lousy week back when I was twelve and desperately needed a mother. I still remembered talking to dad about my period because mom had forgot to pay her phone bill and didn't have service when I desperately needed her.

"Mom, I'll be fine. This isn't exactly new territory. You knew we'd have to part ways eventually." It wasn't like I could travel with Phil and her, as he was trying to get a new contract to play. I had to go to school.

She pinched her lips together as if she knew my line of thought. She probably did. I had always been an open book to her, in spite of how little time we spent together. "I'd stay here with you of course, if you want to stay."

"No, mom. Phil and you arenewlyweds. Go. Do newlywed things."

She sighed before hugging me tightly for a minute, and then I got on the plane and was gone.

It's a four hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, another hour in a small plane up to Port Angeles, and then an hour drive back to Forks. I was looking forward to seeing Charlie again, though I knew the ride home was going to be awkward, filled with stilted questions and long pauses.

Charlie hadn't been thrilled about the idea of me missing the first month and a half of school. Of course, I hadn't been too excited about it either, but mom had pulled out the ultimate trump card with us, reminding dad that she'd never argued about custody rights. We all knew that was because she knew she wasn't fit to truly raise a child, too inconsistent and, for the most part, unable to hold a job. Though she had surprised us all and managed to keep her substitute teaching career for three solid years now.

Still, Charlie had felt guilty, so he'd agreed to let me go with mom and go down to Panama for the honeymoon with them. When I'd left, he had reminded me that I had a choice, I could stay with her, I was smart enough to make it in school in Phoenix too. I'd told him that wouldn't happen. He knew I never stayed with mom.

When I landed in Port Angeles, it was raining. It was a promising sight, I was almost home.

Charlie was waiting for me with the Cruiser. This I was expecting, too. Charlie was Police Chief Swan to the good people of Forks, and he'd never bothered to buy his own vehicle when he could just use the cruiser. I promised myself that, this year, I was getting myself a vehicle so I didn't have to be toted around in a car with red and blue lights on top anymore. He hadn't wanted me to have one last year, money was one reason, the other being that he said sixteen was too young to own a car. I was seventeen now though. He couldn't give that argument again.

Charlie gave me an awkward, one-armed hug when I stumbled off the plane. I returned the hug, mine was even more awkward than his, and we both looked away from each other, muttering our hellos to each other.

When we got to his cruiser, we put my luggage into the trunk. Then he started to ask the stilted questions that I knew were coming. They always came after I returned from visiting mom. He still was in love with mom after all.

"You didn't burn from all that sun, that's good. How's Renee?"

"Mom's fine. Have you been eating alright?" When I'd left, I had left two weeks worth of pre-made meals in the fridge and freezer with instruction on each on how long to heat them, but I had known those would have run out some time ago. There was only so much room in the refrigerator, and the freezer out back was reserved for fish, so I hadn't been able to stock more meals out there.

"Fine, I can fend for myself you know."

"Really, then what did you have for supper last night?"

He muttered something unintelligible under his breath which told me all I needed to know, steak and potatoes at the lodge, I was sure.

I still wanted to hear him say it though. "I didn't quite catch that."

"I ate at the lodge, I even had a salad." I rolled my eyes, like a salad would make up for all that bad cholesterol, but he continued. "I did make eggs for breakfast yesterday."

Eggs being the only thing edible my dad cooked, I rolled my eyes again. He was good at burning water though, so was mom for that matter. We lapsed into a lull of silence and we were past the west end of Lake Crescent before he spoke again.

"I found a good car for you, really cheap."

"What kind of car?" I was suspicious of the way he said "good car foryou" as opposed to just "good car."

"Well, it's a truck actually, a Chevy."

"Where did you find it?"

"Well... it's Billy Black's actually. The pick up he used to drive before he became handicapped." Billy Black was an old family friend along with his three kids Rebecca, Rachel and Jacob. Rebecca and Rachel had actually graduated at the end of my freshman year. Rachel had moved to Seattle where she was currently going to school at the university, while Rebecca had moved to Hawaii and met a Samoan fisherman named Solomon. Jacob on the other hand was a year younger than me and still lived with his dad in La Push, the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

I screwed my mouth up in horror, remembering all the conversations with Jacob about the truck that I now knew my dad was talking about.

Charlie continued when I didn't reply. "As you know, since he's in a wheelchair, he doesn't have a usage for it anymore. Besides, Jacob has been working on that rabbit for years, and his dad offered to split the money so Jacob could get some of the harder to find parts."

I could translate what wasn't being said. Jacob was horrified at the idea of inheriting that vehicle and so he would do anything to get rid of it, including convincing his dad to pawn it off on his unsuspecting pale face friends.

"You want me to buy thedinosaur?" I used Jacob's nickname for the truck.

"It isn't a dinosaur," Charlie said gruffly.

"How old is it, again?" I couldn't remember what Jacob had told me.

"Well, Billy and Jacob have done a lot of work to the engine – it's only a few years old, really."

That didn't answer my question. "When did he buy it?"

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

I knew it was older than that. I didn't know a lot about vehicles, but even I knew the rounded cab was older than the eighties. "Did he buy it new?"

Charlie's face screwed up like he bit a sour lemon. I almost grinned, knowing that I asked the right question this time. "Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties.." He paused, muttering much quieter. "Or late fifties at the earliest."

"Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if something went wrong, and we couldn't really afford to take it to Dowling's..."

His face screwed up again at the mention of Dowling. I knew the local mechanic wasn't my dad's favorite person. In fact, if Dad wasn't muttering about something that people in the city were doing wrong then he was usually muttering about how overpriced Dowling was. "Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

The thing, I thought to myself...it had possibilities – as a nickname, at the very least. It was better than the dinosaur.

"Besides, Jacob will help you do oil changes and such."

I snorted, it was so typically Jacob. "How cheap is cheap?" I had a limited amount of money saved up to buy it with. I couldn't go over and I wasn't going to have my dad dipping into his retirement fund for me.

"Well, I kind of already bought it for you. Think of it as a belated birthday gift. I couldn't exactly give it to you while you were down in Panama after all." Charlie peaked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.

I groaned. He'd already dipped into his retirement fund.

"You shouldn't have done that, dad. I was going to buy myself a car. You know I have a little bit of money saved up."

"You're going to need that money for gas," he muttered surreptitiously.

I groaned again.

"Besides, I wanted to get you something special for your birthday. It isn't a vacation in Panama, but you deserve it." He was looking straight ahead as he said that. Charlie wasn't comfortable expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead too as I responded.

"That's really nice, Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that I'd have rather gotten the still broken down rabbit. It was the thought that counted after all. Besides, I wasn't going to look a free truck in the mouth–err, engine.

"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.

The rest of the drive passed in silence, though I caught my dad open his mouth to speak several times, likely to ask more questions about mom. He never did ask them. I could almost hear his internal monologue, wanting to know if she was happy, if she wanted to come home, etc. I'd heard them all, over the years. It was inappropriate now though, what with her being married and all.

We stared out the window in silence as he continued to drive. It was beautiful, so much lush green, from the trees, to the moss, to the ferns on the ground. It was where I'd grown up.

Eventually we made it home. We lived in a small, two-bedroom house that he'd owned since the early days of his marriage to my mom. Those were the only day their marriage had – the early ones. There, parked on the street in front of the house was my truck. It was faded red, with big, rounded fenders, and a bulbous cab. I'd seen it many times in La Push, and had always secretly loved the body, but still, I could practically see the gas gauge going down, and it wasn't even running.

The best thing about it was that it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged – the kind you see at the scene of an accident, paint unscathed, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.

"Thanks dad." Now I could start tomorrow by driving rather than walking, as I'd done the vast majority of my life. Occasionally I'd let my dad drive me to school over the years, usually after spraining an ankle, or breaking a wrist, or any of the other numerous injuries I'd gotten over my seventeen years of life. I had tried to walk as much as possible though, less embarrassing than being ridden around in a cop car.

"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly.

It took only one trip to get my luggage upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. I opened the door, half expecting to see the man cave that Charlie had threatened to turn it into when I left two and a half months ago, but it was the same as always of course. Over the years my room had gone through many paint jobs, from the white it had been when I was born, to the pea green I'd insisted that I loved when I was three, to lavender, peach, and then yellow, and now the light blue that I'd painted it just last year. If you looked in the corners and around the door frame and window frame, you could still see specks of the previous colors. My room had a hard wood floor and a peaked ceiling. On the window were old lace curtains, yellowed from age, originally hand done by my grandmother, Helen, who had died only a few years after I was born. In the corner was a rocking chair that had been in my room from the time I was born, even when Charlie had suggested we move it elsewhere to make room for a larger desk or a second dresser, I'd refused.

I had one, five drawer dresser, that was probably older than this house, and a desk that I legitimately suspected had been a vanity at one time. On the desk was the computer my dad bought me five years ago. I was going to need a new one soon, but I was loathe to bring it up, just another added expense we couldn't really afford.

My bed, which had changed almost as often as the paint, took up the vast majority of my room. I couldn't remember it, but I had seen the pictures, so I knew at one time there had been a crib in this room, my crib. When I was about four I had gotten a bunk bed, I'd had many sleepovers with it, mostly with Rebecca and Rachel, and even Jacob from time to time, back before it became inappropriate. Later I'd switched to a normal twin size, and then a full a couple years later. Finally when I'd started high school I'd gotten a queen size, it was what I still had now. The bed had a tasteful coverlet on it in a dark purple with flowers around the edge.

I dropped my luggage on the floor, intent to unpack it later, it wasn't like most of what my mom had bought me in Panama could be used up here anyways, lingerie and skimpy bikinis, I'd had no need for it even there, but mom hadn't listened.

Our house had only one small bathroom, located at the end of the hall, a fact that had much aggrieved me for far too many years. Still, we made it work.

After the end of last year, including the freshmen coming up from the middle school, Forks High School was supposed to have a total of three hundred fifty three students this year. I was sure the number had changed by now though, people moving in last minute or leaving, it happened every year that way.

I headed downstairs to fix food, I would check my emails before I went to bed. I was sure that at least Angela had emailed me while I'd been away, though I highly doubted Jessica had bothered. We both knew she only tolerated my presence while in school because I was the chief's daughter.

I looked in the freezer to see what I could find, knowing the fridge hadn't been stocked, I didn't even have to check. If I wasn't here, it didn't get stocked, probably for the best anyways. I could practically see the kitchen exploding if Charlie tried to actually cook something.

I pulled out a chunk of frozen hamburger and another of sausage. I knew there were noodles and sauce in the cabinet.

"Hey, dad, we're having spaghetti and meatballs tonight," I shouted over the sound of the tv. Dad was watching football, I scrunched my nose in disgust. "Sports," I muttered under my breath, the word an expletive.

Dinner was ready soon enough and I brought out the dishes to the living room so we could eat. It was pretty much the only way for us to share a meal during a game.

"Tastes great, Bells," dad said after eating a few bites.

"So, are you going fishing with Billy this weekend?"

"No," Charlie grunted. "We're not talking at the moment."

I arched an eyebrow. "Are you two old women fighting?"

Charlie glared at me. "His superstitions are insane."

"What happened?"

"We have a new family in Forks, they moved in a couple days after you left to visit you mom. Dr Cullen filled the position of Dr Brown. Dr Cullen is a brilliant surgeon who could probably work in any hospital in the world, make ten times the salary he gets here." Charlie was really worked up by then, and I sat back, knowing he'd continue until he was done. "We're lucky to have him – lucky that his wife wanted to live in a small town. He's an asset to the community. They have five kids, all adopted, three sophomores and two freshmen, all of them far better behaved than any of the locals kids that have grown up here their whole lives. I'm sure you'll meet them tomorrow at school.

"Well, Billy." he spat his best friend's name. "Came here a couple weeks ago with Jacob spouting a whole bunch of bullshit superstitions about how the Cullen family are dangerous and I need to force them to leave town. He claimed they were cold ones or some such shit. Like a vampire would be working in a hospital." Charlie snorted. "Jacob was horrified by his dad, of course."

Vampires, really? "Maybe Billy has been smoking a bit too much Peyote?" I suggested helpfully.

"Clearly."

"I doubt I'll get to meet any of the kids though, dad. I'm older than them so we probably won't share any classes."

"Well, don't be a stranger to them, Bells."

I grimaced, he knew I didn't like forcing myself on people.

"Oh, speaking of kids, Tyler has called five times this week. You told me you broke up with him."

I grimaced again, I should've seen that coming. "I did."

I didn't actually get around to checking my emails that night, instead I fell asleep as soon as I went to bed.

Thick fog was all I could see out my window in the morning. I sighed. This would be an interesting day to start driving myself to school.

Breakfast with Charlie was the usual quiet affair. I was eating eggs with him, no milk to fix a bowl of fruit loops like I normally ate, I'd definitely have to shop before coming back from school tonight. He wished me good luck at school and I just eyed him, he knew me better than that.Ididn't have good luck, unless you counted being able to trip on flat surfaces as good luck...

Charlie left first, off to the police station that was more his life than his job. After he left, I sat at the old square oak table in one of the three unmatching chairs and looked around the small kitchen. It was one of the rooms that hadn't been changed much over the years. It was too much work to remove all the food so I could paint it, so it was still the same dark paneling that it had been when dad had bought the place. It was also too much work to replace the cabinets, so they were the same ugly yellow they'd always been. Maybe next time I got to Port Angeles, I'd check the hardware store out to see if I could pick up some paint that could be used around food.

I got up, glancing at the fireplace in the living room as I headed to the door. Atop the fireplace were all pictures of me, one at a science fair when I was seven, another of a piano recital when I was five, and several others including one of me on a horse when I was thirteen – I winced, remembering how that disaster had ended. At one time they had been pictures of my mom and dad at their wedding and on their honeymoon and such, but over the years, they'd all been replaced with pictures of me. I knew that me being in dad's life had replaced a lot of the pain for him when mom had walked out all those years prior.

I donned my jacket and headed out into the rain.

It was just drizzling as I used the key hidden under the eaves to the lock the door before I headed to my truck. I stopped and looked at my truck for a moment, I knew I shouldn't like it, not after all that Jacob had complained about it, but I did. The truck had found a special place in my heart already and I hadn't even drove it yet.

Inside the truck, it was nice and dry. Someone had spent sometime cleaning the inside, even though I could still smell Billy's tobacco and peppermint. The engine started without trouble, to my relief, not that I had any reason to doubt Jake's skills. Unfortunately, the truck was quite loud and my first reaction was to place my hands over my ears before I forced myself to grab the steering wheel. Music was coming over the speakers. The antique radio still worked, that was a plus I hadn't expected.

Sighing, I headed to school and drove around to the back, parking in the space right next to Angela's SUV, one of only a few vehicles in the lot so far.

I got out and walked back around to the front of school, heading to the front office to pick up my schedule for the year. I'd missed registration day thanks to the wedding, so I wondered what I'd been placed in for my two electives.

I opened the door and stepped in, Mrs. Cope looked up immediately. "Hello Bella, back from Panama?"

The only major problem of a small town, everyone knew everyone else's business. "Yeah, do you have my schedule?"

She ruffled around under the desk before pulling out some papers. "Here's your schedule. You'll also need to take this paper to every teacher and have them sign it as confirmation that you have all the back work you've missed by being gone for the first six weeks."

I grimaced, but took the papers she offered, looking at my schedule. Eight periods as always, eighth was gym, my grimace got more defined. There were five periods before lunch and three after, period four was art and six was film studies, my two electives. I wouldn't have selected either if I'd been here to get a vote.

"Thanks Mrs. Cope." I headed back out, going towards building 3 automatically, muscle memory taking me to the English building, my first class of the day.

I started to head inside but stopped and gawked as two girls I'd never seen before walked by, heading in the general direction of building 5. One was a short stick of a thing, maybe five foot tall, with spiky black hair and pitch black eyes. The other was a polar opposite, bordering on six feet tall with long golden blond hair, her eyes too, were black. They had to be some of the Cullen family, but they both looked older than the freshmen or sophomores they supposedly were.

Finally I shook myself out of my stupor and headed inside, going immediately to Mr. Mason's desk and handing him my paper. "Ms. Swan, glad you made it home in one piece." He signed the paper and promptly handed me a four inch thick stack of papers. "Your homework."

I went to the back of the room and took a seat, starting to work on my past due homework, even as Mr Mason droned on about today's studies.

The bell finally rang, signaling the end of class and I picked up my stuff to head out as Eric came over to me. "So what did you get stuck with for second period?"

I'd known Eric since kindergarten, when I'd been partnered with him for our valentines day project. We never had got our paper heart finished. Even back then he'd beentoo helpful."I'm in Government with Mr. Jefferson."

We both rolled our eyes at that and he groaned. "Good luck with that. I got lucky and got World History this semester with Mrs. Partridge. Of course, that means Government next semester, but that would be next semester's problem."

I snickered. "We'll talk more at lunch, I'm sure." I headed out and went towards building six.

Period three was trigonometry with Mr. Varner, four was art with Ms. Eckhart, and fifth was spanish with Mrs. Goff. By the end of fifth I'd been able to say hello to Mike, Angela, Jessica, and Ben, luckily I still hadn't spotted Tyler or Lauren – the bane of my existence. I also had a thirteen inch thick stack of past due homework.

I raced out to my truck to dump all my past due homework in the cab before I headed to the cafeteria. I grabbed a small lunch of a sandwich and an apple before heading to the usual table with the usual suspects. Eric, Angela, Jessica, Mike, Ben, Conner, Lauren and Tyler. I took the seat next to Tyler, not because I wanted to, but because it was the only one left open.

Tyler leaned over to me and kissed the top of my head, I shoved him back, his chair toppling over from the force. "No Tyler, I told you we were through before I headed off to visit Renee."

He got up and righted his chair, not even taking the hint. "Of course you did, baby. You couldn't expect me to be celibate for an entire two and a half months while you were away." He did a little hip pump thing before sitting back down.

Jessica facepalmed from where she was sitting. I silently agreed with her.

"Tyler, honey." The word honey was sarcastic. "If you're not celibate then we both know it was never with me." In fact, in two years of dating, we'd never even kissed.

"Ooh, burn," Eric said.

Tyler looked mortified and immediately got back up, excusing himself from the table and heading out of the cafeteria.

I took the momentary lull to look around, spotting the new family at a corner table almost immediately. All the tables surrounding them were empty, as if their very presence repelled people. They weren't talking, and they weren't eating, though they each had a tray of uneaten food in front of them. There were five of them total, just as Charlie said.

They didn't look anything alike. Of the two boys, one was big – muscled like a serious weight lifter, with dark, curly hair. Another was taller, leaner, but still muscular, and honey blond. The others were girls one was curvey, a little patite, with untidy, bronze-colored hair. She was more girlish than the others, who looked like they should be in college, or even teachers here rather than students.

The other girls were the same two that I'd noticed earlier, and now I got to analyze a little more. The tall one was statuesque. She had a beautiful figure, the kind you saw on the cover of theSports Illustratedswimsuit issue, the kind that made every girl around her take a hit on her self-esteem just by being in the same room. Her hair was golden, gently waving to the middle of her back. The short girl was pixie-like, thin in the extreme, with small features. Her hair was a deep black, cropped short and pointing in every direction.

And yet, they were all exactly alike. Every one of them was chalky pale, the palest of all the students living here. Paler than me, which was a new one. They all had very dark eyes despite the range in hair tones. They also had dark shadows under those eyes – purplish, bruiselike shadows. As if they were all suffering from a sleepless night, or almost done recovering from a broken nose. Though their noses, all their features, were straight, perfect, angular.

But all this was not why I couldn't look away.

I stared because their faces, so different, so similar, were all devastatingly, inhumanly beautiful. They were faces you never expected to see except perhaps on the airbrushed pages of a fashion magazine. Or painted by an old master as the face of an angel. It was hard to decide who was the most beautiful – maybe the perfect blond girl, or the bronze-haired one.

They were all looking away – away from each other, away from the other students, away from anything in particular as far as I could tell. As I watched, the small girl rose with her tray – unopened soda, unbitten apple – and walked away with a quick, graceful lope that belonged on a runway. I watched, amazed at her lithe dancer's steps, till she dumped her tray and glided through the back door, faster than I would have thought possible. My eyes darted back to the others, who sat unchanging.

"Who arethey?" I asked, directing my question at Jessica, knowing she'd take the bait, nodding my head toward the table in the corner.

I glanced that way again just as the bronze-haired one looked up suddenly at my neighbor, almost as if she'd heard her name. She immediately looked away again, but it was strange.

"That's Edythe and Emmett Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. The one who left was Alice Cullen; they all live together with the new Dr. Cullen and his wife." Jessica explained under her breath.

I glanced sideways at the beautiful girl, who was looking at her tray now, picking a bagel to pieces with long, pale fingers. Her mouth was moving very quickly, her perfect full pink lips barely opening. The other three still looked away, and yet I felt she was speaking quietly to them. All of their names were old and outdated, it was strange.

"They are … very nice-looking." I struggled with the conspicuous understatement.

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with a giggle, becoming even more animated. "They're alltogetherthough – Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And theylivetogether." Her voice held her typical shock and condemnation for anything that was the least bit different. Though, even I had to admit, it was a bit strange.

"Which ones have the last name of Cullen?" I asked.

"Well, Jasper and Rosalie Hale are the two blonds – they're twins. That's probably easier to explain."

"My dad told me a little bit about the family last night. Which ones are in which grade?"

"The one that left and Edythe are the freshmen, the other three are the sophomores."

Unfortunately, I still didn't know which one was Edythe. "And the one with the reddish brown hair, is she Edythe if the pixie is Alice and the blonde is Rosalie?" I peeked at her from the corner of my eye as I asked and she was staring at me with a slightly frustrated expression. I couldn't imagine why so I looked down again.

"Yes, that's her.All the guys are talking about all the tthings they'd like to do to her but i think she looks fucking ugly as hell ." I forced myself not to roll my eyes, she's probably jealous of her i mean compared to Jessica this girl looked like a super model.

"I thought you were the nice girl Jessica?"

"Yeah, well,lookat her. You can't tell me the men who are talking about tapping that aren't just excited because she's new i mean she damn sure isn't all that pretty.

This time I did roll my eyes. I looked back towards their table and her face was turned away but it looked like she was smiling.

After a few more minutes, the four of them left their table together. They all were noticeably graceful – even the big, brawny one. It was unsettling to watch. The one named Edythe didn't look at me again.

I sat with my friends for a few more minutes, even though I didn't want to be late to class. Angela asked what class I had next. When I told her it was the horrid film studies, she smiled, explaining it was what everyone got placed in that didn't make it to registration this year, including her.

She walked with me to class, heading to her seat as I went to the front desk to get my past due homework from Mr. Berty. He signed the slip and handed me another two inches of homework to add to the thirteen I had waiting in the truck. "You can sit next to Edythe, it's the only seat left."

I turned to look for her, I hadn't noticed her when I walked in, but this was a pleasant surprise. I'd get to know the beautiful bronze-haired girl. I spotted her about two seats from the back and started to head that way when Samantha Wells raced in from the outside, muttering a quick apology. The blast of air from the door caused my hair to blow everywhere.

In front of me, Edythe suddenly went rigid and looked up to glare at me. Her expression was murderous, filled with hostility and rage. I looked away quickly, shocked, my face going red.

From there I kept my eyes down and I went to sit beside her, not understanding the glare that I could still feel on me.

I didn't look up as I set my things on my desk and took my seat, but I saw her posture change from the corner of my eye. She was leaning away from me, sitting on the extreme edge of her chair and averting her face as if she smelled something bad. Inconspicuously, I sniffed my hair. It smelled like strawberries, the scent of my favorite shampoo. It seemed an innocent enough odor. I let my hair fall over my right shoulder, making a dark curtain between us, and tried to pay attention to the teacher.

Mr. Berty made a point of advising me, and the entire class, that they were halfway through the 1933 version of King Kong and I'd have to watch the full movie at home to understand it completely.

I couldn't stop myself from peaking at Edythe from under the screen protection of my hair. She was still in the same stiff position on the edge of her chair as she'd been before, sitting as far from me as possible. I could see her hand on her left leg was clenched into a fist, tendons standing out under her pale skin. She had the long sleeves of her white shirt pushed up to her elbows, and her forearm was surprisingly hard and muscular beneath her light skin. She wasn't nearly as slight as she'd looked next to her burly brother.

As the teacher turned the lights off and the movie on, there was a pressure between us, an almost imperceptible buzzing. I had the strangest desire to lean into her and I didn't understand it. it was weird and a little scary why was i attracted to another woman this was really wrong on many levels. I could see that she leaned even farther away from me out of the corner of my eye. Throughout the entire class, the pressure only got worse.

Finally, a couple of minutes before the end of class, Mr. Berty paused the movie and flipped the lights back on.

I peeked up at her one more time, and instantly regretted it. She was glaring down at me again, her black eyes full of revulsion. As I flinched away from her, shrinking against my chair, the phraseif looks could killsuddenly ran through my mind.

At that moment, the bell rang loudly, making me jump, and Edythe Cullen was out of her seat. Fluidly she rose – she was much taller than I'd thought – her back to me, and she was out the door before anyone else was out of their seat.

I sat frozen in my seat, staring blankly after her. She was so mean. It wasn't fair. I began gathering up my things slowly, trying to block the anger that filled me, for fear my eyes would tear up. For some reason, my temper was hardwired to my tear ducts. I usually cried when I was angry, a humiliating tendency.

Slowly I got up and headed to seventh period which was biology II with Mr. Banner. I got my next three inches of homework from him and took a seat in front of Mike Newton, ending up partnered with Ashley Dowling.

We did a lab about onion root, we'd done one on whitefish blastula last year in biology I and it was far too easy, at least for me. Ashley, on the other hand, struggled to identify the two remaining slides that I didn't do.

After the end of class I walked with Mike to gym, my last period of the day.

The good news was, with gym, there wasn't anymore homework to add to the stack of eighteen inches that I now had, but Coach Clapp gave me a vocal dressing down before sending to get dressed and run laps, while everyone else was doing volleyball.

I was exhausted by the end of class and wearily trudged back to the front office to give Mrs. Cope the sheet with all the signatures.

When I walked into the warm office, I almost turned around and walked back out.

Edythe Cullen stood at the desk in front of me. I recognized again that tousled bronze hair. She didn't appear to notice the sound of my entrance. I stood pressed against the back wall, waiting for the receptionist to be free.

She was arguing with her in a low, attractive voice. I quickly picked up the gist of the argument. She was trying to trade sixth hour film studies for any other elective, or even a study hall – we didn't do study hall here.

I just couldn't believe that this was about me. It had to be something else, something that happened before I entered the classroom. The look on her face must have been about another aggravation entirely. It was impossible that this stranger could take such a sudden, intense dislike to me.

The door opened again, and the cold wind suddenly gusted through the room, rustling the papers on the desk, swirling my hair around my face. June came in and merely stepped up to the desk, placed a note in the wire basket, and walked out again. But Edythe Cullen's back stiffened, and she turned slowly to glare at me – her face was absurdly beautiful – with piercing, hate-filled eyes. For an instant, I felt a thrill of genuine fear, raising the hair on my arms. The look only lasted a second, but it chilled me more than the freezing wind. She turned back to the receptionist.

"Never mind, then," she said hastily in a voice like velvet. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."

She turned on her heel without another look at me, and disappeared out the door.

I went meekly to the desk, my face white for once instead of red, and handed her the signed slip.

"How did your first day back go, dear?" the receptionist asked maternally.

"Fine," I lied, my voice weak. She didn't look convinced.

When I got to the truck, it was almost the last car in the lot, I dumped the rest of my papers with my original pile and climbed in. It seemed like a haven from the girl I didn't even know. I sat inside for a while, just staring out the windshield blankly. But soon I was cold enough to need the heater, so I turned the key and the engine roared to life. I headed back to Charlie's house, fighting tears the whole way there.


	2. open book

I ended up having to go to the store after I went home because I forgot to do it in all my anger. I got all the essentials to restock the fridge so I could once again make food for Charlie and myself. As I drove back towards home and stopped at a stop sign I happened to look in the hospital parking lot and saw two brand new cars parked side by side, a glossy black Mercedes that I was sure Jacob would crow about if he was here, and a silver Volvo.

They were strange to see, at least in this town, where somebody having a ten year old Mustang was considered high class. I wondered if one of the cars was owned by the new Dr. Cullen. I started to let my foot off the brake peddle, knowing I was sitting still for far too long, when Edythe came out of one of the hospital doors – moving like the bats of hell were after her. She went straight to the Mercedes and got in.

I shook my head and stepped on the gas, rumbling past and continuing home.

The next day was better … and worse.

It was better because it wasn't raining, something that almost never happened in this small town.

It was worse because I was tired. I hadn't been able to sleep well, tossing and turning as I had nightmare after nightmare of Edythe donning a shiny black cape with a blood red lining and turning into Count Dracula, of her face aging as the cape became a matte black and she became selen from Underworld, and finally as she donned a gray coat, her skin changing colors and she became Eric from Blade. I'd woke up screaming at six am. Charlie had already left for the day, needing to help out a neighboring county with an animal problem. I'd had to splash water on my face and promised myself to not watch anymore vampire movies until long after I forgot what Charlie had told me about Billy's stupid superstitions, which I knew that was all they were. There was no such thing as vampires. Edythe was just a jerk, that was all there was to it.

It was better because I got to watch Lauren trip and fall face first into Tyler's groin in second period government. They'd both been sent to the principal by Mr. Jefferson for misconduct. I'd had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing at the sight, the two deserved each other.

It was worse because I got called on by Mr. Varner in trigonometry even though he knew there was no possible way I was caught up yet. I wasn't surprised when I got the answer wrong.

It was better because Jessica, Angela and I made plans to go to the Goldmeyer Hot Springs in North Bend the coming weekend. We hadn't been in three years, not since we'd went with Jessica's older sister, Marianne. Marianne had graduated from Forks when we'd all still been in eighth grade. We'd gone with her for a spa day right before she moved back to Texas where their family was originally from. She hadn't been back since.

It was worse because the coach made me play volleyball even though he and I both knew that it was a bad idea. I sideswiped Jennifer Ford purely by accident within five minutes of playing, by the time ten minutes was up, I was being sent to the nurse's office with a bloody nose from the volleyball and my face meeting each other.

And it was worse because Edythe Cullen wasn't in school today. I wasn't sure why that mattered so much to me.

All through the morning I'd been dreading lunch, worrying that I'd be hit with another one of her death glares. Part of me wanted to confront her, to demand to know what her problem was. After I'd woke up screaming, I'd even imagined what I'd say to her. But I knew myself too well to think I would really have the guts to do it. My pacifist nature made a mouse look like the hulk.

As it turned out, I shouldn't have worried, because when I walked in to the cafeteria at lunch and glanced at the corner table, they were all there – all except Edythe that was. Edythe was no where to be found. As with yesterday, the Cullen family sat together, all looking nowhere and all with untouched trays of food. Did they not like our lunches? I knew our school wasn't the Ritz, but it wasn't bad either, our food was closer to college food than most high schools, which tended to serve the equivalent of pig slop.

I was relatively certain by the time that I went to Film Studies that she wouldn't be there either. I was correct in my assumption and Angela ended up coming over and taking the seat that Edythe had used yesterday, at least until Mr. Berty came in and gave her a glare that was almost as bad as the one I'd received fromher yesterday.

After the bell rang for the day, and I was heading from the nurse's office to my truck, Mike caught up with me.

"Hey Bella."

"Mike," I said, not bothering to say hello. I didn't know why, but I felt like I was being cornered. We shared four of our eight classes and we'd sat together at lunch, if he'd wanted to talk, he could have done it at any of those times.

"So... you and Tyler, you're done right?"

"Yes." My answer was sharp, I knew where this was going now, I was sure.

"Well, I was wondering, would you possibly like to go out with me some night?"

"Mike," I groaned. "No, I can't do it, not with you. I love you, Mike. I really do, but like a brother. I willneverbe able to see you as anything else."

"You were able to date Tyler," he said petulantly.

"Yes, and for two years it was like I was dating my brother. I won't do it again. I've known all of you since kindergarten – well, first grade in your case. We all used to play at the park, go to La Push and make sand castles, and even sleep in the same beds. For crying out loud, I even remember when you and I used to eat from the same ice cream cones."

"Yeah right, that's why you two dated for two whole years, because you thought of him as a brother." He snorted.

"Mike," I said, my voice patronizing. "In two years we never even kissed, in fact, I can count the number of times wehuggedwhile on dates on my two hands. All of our dates were platonic. It would be the same for us, and you deserve better than that. Hell,Ideserve better than that."

"Would you say that if it was Eric asking?"

I barely managed to keep myself from gagging at the thought of dating Eric. "Yes, as it would be for Ben, Lee, Conner, Austin, D.J., or Rob." I listed off all of the males that we both tended to hang out with, though I could have kept going if I'd wanted. In a school of three hundred and fifty, it was difficult to not know everyone. "For that matter, it would be the same for Angela or Jessica – not that I'm saying I swing that way." I said in panic.

"Then why'd you mention them?"

"To prevent you from asking."

"Fine Bella, I'll give you some time to heal from your breakup," he said, studiously ignoring everything I'd just told him. "We'll have the Winter Ball soon enough."

He trotted off as I stood there doing my best fish face impression. Finally I mentally smacked myself hard enough to shout, "No, we won't."

He just waved without turning around. I knew I was going to have to tell him no again. I knew Mike. Shaking my head, I sighed and got into my truck.

I gunned my deafening engine to life, ignoring the loud noise as I backed carefully into a place in the line of cars that were waiting to exit the parking lot. As I waited, I saw the Cullen family get into their Volvo. I'd already figured out they were rich, it was how the world seemed to always work – money, looks, and power. It didn't seem to buy them any acceptance though, at least not here.

No, I knew better than that. I knew that if, given half an opportunity, both Lauren and Jessica would be all over that family – and more specifically, they would be making fun of Edythe still out of jealousy. They were both gold diggers as far as I was concerned. Theyd try to get with Emmett or Jasper if they could. The isolation around the Cullen family must be their desire; I couldn't imagine any door that wouldn't be opened by that degree of beauty.

Charlie arrived home before me as his car was already parked in the drive. As I walked in he shouted from the living room, "Bella, we got mail today. It's on the kitchen table."

That was strange, Charlie didn't usually get excited about mail. I headed into the kitchen, picking up the fancy embossed envelope that was address toCharlie and Isabella Swan. I opened it up and pulled out a foil lined card. I unfolded the card and on the inside were the big, bold words:

You're Invited

To The Wedding Of

Samuel Uley

and

Leah Clearwater

Son of Joshua and Allison Uley

Daughter of Harry and Sue Clearwater

January 5th, 2005 at 11:00 AM

To be held on the La Push beach.

I'd known it had to be coming eventually, they'd been engaged since she was a junior in high school. I guess they'd finally decided to take the plunge now that Leah had officially graduated.

"I guess we know what we'll be doing right after the new year," I yelled into the living room. I pulled a package of chicken out of the fridge. "We're having baked chicken."

"Sounds good, Bells."

Once I finished getting everything in the oven to cook, I headed upstairs to check my emails.

My mother had managed to send ten emails in the two days since I'd left her. Meanwhile, the two and a half months before only had a total of five pertinent emails, all from Angela. Charlie hadn't emailed me once while I'd been with mom. Of course, my dad was a simple man who barely knew how to use a computer and he also knew I wouldn't have internet access, so it made sense.

I started out reading Angela's emails, each one was lengthy, an essay in itself. If I'd been here when she'd decided to write them I would have told her she didn't need to write so much, not that she ever listened. Each of her emails told me about everything I'd missed while I was away, letting me know about the shopping trips she went on with Jessica and Lauren – the ones I wouldn't have went on even if I'd been here. She also wrote about the twins' birthday party, about how all her cousins turned out for it.

It wasn't until the third email that it got a little more interesting. They went surfing the weekend after school started and ran into some of the Quileutes including Jacob who was apparently dating Jessica Avery now, another Quileute, one who I had spent close to no time with. I didn't know why, but I felt a twinge of anxiety upon discovering that Jacob was dating. I couldn't be jealous, he was nothing more than a little brother to me. It had to be my maternal instincts kicking in or something along those lines.

After I finished reading Angela's emails I sent back a quick reply to her:

Angela, you know you don't need perfect grammar in emails. You also don't need to write essays.

Next were mom's emails, which were a lot shorter than Angela's emails, but were a lot harder to read.

Oct 4, 2004, 3:35 pm – Write me as soon as you get in. Tell me how you flight was. Is it raining? I miss you already. I'm almost finished packing for Florida. I can't find my pink blouse though. Do you know where I put it? I know I wore it several times in Panama. Phil says hi. Mom

Oct 4, 2004, 4:10 pm – Why haven't you emailed me yet?What are you waiting for? Mom

At the time of the first two emails, I hadn't even landed in Seattle yet. I shook my head and kept reading.

Oct 4, 2004, 8:07 pm – Phil reminded me of the flight time. Sorry. I need to know you got home safe, honey. Let me know. Mom

Oct 4, 2004, 11:21 pm – Did you forget where your computer is? Let me know you got home safe. Mom

Oct 5, 2004, 7:09 am – Are you trying to punish me for asking you to stay so much? I need to know something didn't happen to you. Mom

Oct 5, 2004, 7:12 am – I also still need to know if you know where I put that blouse. And my pencil skirt. I can't find either. Mom

Oct 5, 2004, 11:43 am – Are you in school? Why aren't you replying? Mom

Oct 5, 2004, 2:56 pm – I'm starting to freak out here. I've been checking the news and stuff, but I haven't seen anything about any airplane crashes. Honestly, not even your luck could be that bad. But what else am I supposed to think? LET ME KNOW YOU'RE ALRIGHT. Mom

Oct, 5, 2004, 6:33 pm – Do I need to call Charlie? Seriously, talk to me. Mom

And yet, for all her concern, which became more and more evident with every email, she hadn't called. I wasn't surprised. If things were awkward between Charlie and I when we talked about mom, then things were downright disturbing when Charlie and mom actually talked to each other.

Charlie still loved mom, and frankly mom... didn't. On top of that though, Charlie could never quite forgive mom for walking out in the middle of the night with not a word. He'd been called away at a domestic disturbance when she'd packed her bags and left, leaving me alone in the crib upstairs. All she left by way of explanation was a single sticky note with the words"Just let me go, Charlie."on it. That was it.

I'd been home alone for hours by the time he returned, not that I remembered any of it.

I finally opened the tenth, and most recent, email from Renee.

Oct 6, 2004, 12:24 pm – Isabella, If I haven't heard from you by 5:30 pm today I'm calling Charlie.

I checked the clock, I still had an hour. But mom was well known for jumping the gun, and dad didn't need that headache.

I hit reply and started typing.

Mom, calm down. I'm writing right now. Don't do anything rash. Bella

Like calling dad, not that I wrote that. I hit send and opened a second email up.

Mom. Everything is great. Of course it's raining, you shouldn't expect anything differently. It's Forks. I have a giant stack of homework from all the school I missed that I should be working on even now, so please calm down. Everything is fine.

Your blouse and skirt is at the dry cleaners. You were supposed to pick them up yesterday.

Charlie bought me Billy's old truck. I know it's almost half a century old, but I love it. It's also really sturdy, which is good. At least for me.

I miss you, too. I'll write again soon. But I'm not going to check my email every five minutes. Relax. Breathe. I love you.

Bella

By the time I finished emailing her, Angela had replied to my email, for once, it was actually short.

Bella,

You know I like being proper. Besides, how else would you catch up on all that you missed?

Angela

I rolled my eyes and quickly replied.

I'd ask Jessica

I turned off my monitor and started working on my homework while I waited on the timer to go off downstairs. When the oven bell finally went off, I ran downstairs and fixed up the plates for supper. I glanced in the living room, checking to see what Dad was watching before placing the plates on our tiny table.

He was watching the news, he'd come. "Dinner's ready," I yelled.

I heard him harrumph as he turned off the tv and came in to eat, sitting down in his preferred chair.

"Smells good, Bell."

"Thanks."

We ate in silence for a few minutes. It wasn't uncomfortable. Neither of us was bothered by the quiet. We lived together in decent harmony, always had. Even as a little girl, I'd never been the rambunctious type.

"So, how has school been going? You getting caught up? How are your friends?" he asked as he got up to fix a plate with seconds.

"It's school, Dad. You know that. Jessica, Angela and I have made plans to go to Goldmeyer Hot Springs next weekend, get pampered a little. They haven't said anything yet, but I think they're actually hoping to go shopping for gowns. Winter ball is only two months away." I rolled my eyes. I wasn't in to dances, fancy designer clothes, or any of that. But they were. "As for the homework... ask me in a month."

"North Bend will be good for you. You really should get some new clothes for you for this school year. I know you didn't get a chance to before you went to your mom's wedding and all. And Tyler, did you get that cleared up?"

"If shoving him out of his chair and embarrassing him publicly didn't make him take the hint then I don't know what will."

"And the rest?"

And because I knew my dad so well, I knew he wasn't asking for gossip on how I ended my relationship. He trusted me to handle myself. "I'm sure we'll all make plans to go to La Push soon, then I'll get a chance to really talk to some of them, school isn't exactly the best place to catch up, you know." I paused briefly, my face turning beet red as I contemplated what I was about to say, but saying it anyways, "Mike wants to get into my pants."

Charlie choked on the bite he just swallowed, coughing several times before replying. "I'm sure I could put a stop to that." There was a hint of steel in his voice that he usually only reserved for criminals.

"Don't worry, dad. I don't see him that way, he's like a brother to me."

"And the Cullen family, have you got to talk to them yet?"

I swallowed. This was the topic I'd been dreading. "Not really, dad. They seem to repel association with others. They stick to themselves, sitting in a corner at the cafeteria, there's a wide berth of tables between them and everyone else. It isn't randomly like that."

"Hmmm." It was his only response.

It was enough to know I was treading water. I backtracked. "I do share class with one of them, Edythe. She wasn't at school today though. Generally, they seem to be nice enough, they just like to keep to themselves. There's nothing wrong with that." I paused before adding. "They are all very attractive."

"You should see the doctor," Charlie said, laughing. "It's a good thing he's happily married. A lot of the nurses at the hospital have a hard time concentrating on their work with him around."

We lapsed back into silence as we finished eating. He cleared the table while I started on the dishes. He went back to the tv, and after I finished washing the dishes by hand I went upstairs unwillingly to work on more of my homework.

By the time night had truly fell, I was exhausted and fell asleep quickly.

The rest of the week was uneventful. I got used to the routine of my classes.

By Friday, I'd almost forgotten my disastrous first meeting with the new kid, Edythe Cullen, as by Friday, she still hadn't come back to school.

Every day, I watched anxiously until I was sitting in the cafeteria and could see for my self that she wasn't with the rest of the Cullen family. Then I'd finally relax and truly start getting involved with the plans being made by the rest of my friends. It went against my better judgment, but I finally agreed to a couple tutoring sessions with Eric after school. I wasn't going to be catching up on my homework in this century otherwise.

We made plans to go to La Push by the start of next month. Mike insisted that the big swells would be here then, as he did every year – every year, he was wrong. I honestly was starting to think we didn't get big swells out here, not that I'd be in the water if one hit. I did paddle board, a little, but I couldn't surf when a wave hit... I didn't really enjoy ending up wrapped in seaweed after falling off my board and right into a mess of undertow.

By Friday, I was perfectly comfortable entering my film studies class, no longer worried that Edythe would be there, as it appeared Edythe wasn't returning. For all I knew, she had dropped out of school. I tried not to think about her, but I couldn't totally suppress the worry that I was responsible for her continued absence, ridiculous as it seemed.

My first weekend back in Forks, passed without incident. Charlie, as usual, worked the vast majority of the weekend. I didn't mind. I cleaned the house, wrote my mom another email, drove to the library to check and see if their stock was any better – it wasn't – and I continued to work on my massive pile of homework.

On Monday, I got to school early, spending a few minutes just talking to my friends. It was colder than usual this morning, but surprisingly wasn't raining. I didn't pay any mind to it. In English, Mike sat down beside me while Eric sat behind me. It made me feel trapped in a strange way, but I ignored the sensation. We had a pop quiz onWuthering Heights. It was straight forward, very easy.

When we walked out of class, the air was full of swirling bits of white. I immediately looked southeast, hoping to see a billowing black cloud, but there wasn't one. I could hear people shouting excitedly to each other. The wind bit at my cheeks and my nose.

"Wow," Mike said. "It's snowing."

I shuddered, for all the time I'd lived here, snow was one of things I truly detested. "I can tell."

"I'll never understand why you don't like snow, Bella."

"Because I can." My reply was tart, my mood soured by the sight of the white stuff.

Mike laughed. And then a big, squishy ball of dripping snow smacked the back of his head. We both turned to see where it came from. I had my suspicions about Eric, who was walking away, his back toward us – in the wrong direction for his next class. Mike apparently had the same notion. He bent down and began scraping together a pile of white mush.

"I'll see you at lunch," I shouted as I started jogging to get away from the impending snowball fight, heading towards my next class.

I walked alertly to the cafeteria with Jessica after spanish. Mush balls were flying everywhere. I kept a binder in my hands, ready to use it as a shield if necessary. Jessica thought I was hilarious, but my threat to tell Mike how much she secretly liked him kept her from lobbing a ball atmyhead.

Mike caught up to us as we walked in the doors, laughing, with ice melting the spikes in his hair. He and Jessica were talking animatedly about the the snow fight as we got in line to buy food. I glanced toward the table in the corner out of habit. And then I froze where I stood. There were five people at the table.

Edythe was back.

Jessica poked me in the arm. "Hello? Earth to Bella? What do you want?"

I looked down; my ears were hot. I had no reason to feel self-conscious, I reminded myself. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"What's with you?" Mike asked when I didn't respond right away.

"Nothing," I answered. "I'll just get a soda today."

"Aren't you feeling hungry?" Jessica asked.

"Actually, I feel a little sick," I said, my eyes still on the floor.

I waited for them to get their food and then followed them to our table, my eyes, firmly on my feet.

I sipped my soda slowly, my stomach churning. Twice Mike asked, with unnecessary concern, how I was feeling. I told him it was nothing, but I was wondering if Ishouldplay it up and escape to the nurse's office for the next hour.

Ridiculous, I shouldn't have to run away.

I decided to permit myself one glance at the Cullen family's table. If she was glaring at me, I would skip film studies, like the coward I was.

I kept my hand down and glanced up under my lashes. None of them were looking this way. I lifted my head a little.

They were laughing. Edythe, Jasper, and Emmett all had their hair entirely saturated with with melting snow. Alice and Rosalie were leaning away as Emmett shook his dripping hair towards them. They were enjoying the snowy day, just like everyone else – only the scene in front of me looked a little too poised and practiced to seem natural to me.

Aside from the relatively normal teenage scene – the first they had so far made in the week since I'd been back – there was something different, and I couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was. I examined Edythe the most carefully. Her skin was less pale and the circles under her eyes were much less noticeable. But there was something more. I pondered, staring, trying to isolate the change.

"Bella, what are you staring at?" Jessica intruded, her eyes following my stare.

At that precise moment, her eyes flashed to meet mine.

I dropped my head, letting my hair fall to conceal my face. I was sure though, in the instant our eyes met, that she didn't look harsh or unfriendly as she had the last time I'd seen her. She looked merely curious, unsatisfied in some way.

"Edythe Culled is staring at you like some lesbo." Jessica laughed, her voice revealing the homophobia that the words themselves also conveyed.

"She doesn't look angry, does she?" I couldn't help the question.

"No," she said, sounding beyond confused by my question. "Should she be?"

"She didn't seem to like me much last week." Imagine someone that beautiful glaring at you i said. I still felt queasy. I put my head down on my arm. My voice had been cold, conveying that I didn't want to talk about it.

Jessica didn't take the hint, and she assumed the wrong meaning from my words. "Well.. I told you she wasn't much to look at." She giggled again. "But, she's still staring at you." I swear she's a dyke Bella.

"Stop looking at her," I hissed. I tried to remind myself why I was even still friends with Jessica. In many ways, she was more annoying than Lauren – who was at least open in her hatred towards me, the feeling was mutual.

Jessica snickered, but looked away as I asked. I raised my head enough to make sure that she did, contemplating violence if she hadn't.

Mike interrupted us then, his eyes alight with excitement as I looked up at him. He wanted us to join in a snowball fight he was planning for the end of the school day. I arched my eyebrow at him, not even bothering to acknowledge his offer. He knew me better than that. Jessica agreed to join as long as she could be on his team, her words clear to everyone at the table except him. He was completely blind to how Jessica felt about him.

For the rest of the lunch hour I very carefully kept my eyes at my own table. I decided to honor the bargain I'd made with myself. Since she didn't look angry, I would go to film studies. My stomach did frightened little flips at the thought of sitting next to her again. At least it wasn't like we'd have to talk to each other. I was sure we'd be starting on a new movie today.

I dithered about getting up and walking to class, not wanting to get hit by a snowball – likely to hit me directly in the face, such was my luck. In fact, I didn't get up until I heard the groans from Mike and Tyler. I looked up to the cafeteria door, seeing most of the snow had melted and it was now pouring rain. I smiled and pulled my hood up, getting up and heading outside to go to class.

Once inside the classroom, I saw with relief that the desk next to mine was still empty. Mr. Berty was walking around the room, depositing a stack of papers on each of the desks. Class didn't start for a few more minutes, and the room buzzed with conversations. I took my seat and started doodling on my notebook cover as I eyed the papers on my desk. The top of the front paper readUnderstanding the benefits of the graphics in the early nineteen hundreds.I refused to glance at the door, hoping Edythe wouldn't come in.

I saw from the corner of my eye as her perfect legs, dressed in form fitting denim, sat down in the desk beside me. I refused to look at her, focusing my full attention on the pattern I was drawing.Why the hell was i checking out a girl this is weird and wrong. I wasn't gay. Was i?

"Hello," said a quiet, musical voice.

I looked up, stunned that she was speaking to me. She was sitting on the very edge of her seat, her body rigid, as if at any moment she'd bolt, but she was facing her body in my direction. Her long hair was dripping wet, disheveled – even so, she looked like she'd just finished shooting a commercial for hair gel. Her dazzling face was friendly, open, a slight smile on her flawless full lips. But her eyes were careful.

"My name is Edythe Cullen," she continued. "I didn't have a chance to introduce myself last week. You're Bella Swan, correct?"

My mind was spinning with confusion. Had I made up the whole thing? She was perfectly polite now. I had to speak; she was waiting. I couldn't think of what to say though, I was sure my confusion was clear on my face, I flushed in embarrassment.

"Yes, that's me." I managed to stammer out. In a bigger town, it might be curious that the new kid already knew the name of a girl she'd never spoke to before, but this was Forks. Everyone knew who the chief's daughter was, and everyone also knew my hatred of my given name, Isabella. I'm sure she hadn't been here a week before she heard the story of the little second grader who punched her best friend at the time because she refused to call her by her preferred nickname. Lauren never had forgiven me for the broken nose, and I never had gotten over her continued insistence to call me Isabella.

She laughed a soft, enchanting laugh even as she looked away from me.

Thankfully, Mr. Berty called class to order. My expectation that we'd be starting on a new movie had been incorrect though. Instead, we were to start on a partnered essay about the graphics of the early nineteen hundreds, and what made them superior to our current graphics. The essay was going to count for half of our grade for this semester. "I want all of you to turn your desks so you face your partner. Those of you in the two middle aisles, please turn to face the wall closest to you, and those of you closest to walls, please turn to face the center of the room. You will have today to start planning this essay. If you can keep your conversations quiet and not have this class end in a shouting match then I'll allow you to do the majority of the essay during class over the next couple weeks, otherwise it will be homework outside of school."

By turning the desk to face the direction I was told, I ended up partnered with Edythe in the truest sense.

"Get started," he commanded from the front of the room after everyone had turned their desks.

"This is going to be interesting," Edythe murmured, almost too quietly for me to hear.

"What was that?" I asked, my eyes narrowing.

"Nothing. So how many of the movies have you gotten to see so far from the first few weeks that you missed?" Edythe's question was legitimate and there wasn't any of the antagonism or jealousy I'd heard from my own friends in my other classes as I'd been partnered off to do random projects.

Still, I took offense. "Yes, I have a life outside of this tiny town and got to spend a few weeks in Panama. It doesn't mean I'm gonna be incompetent. I'll do my part of the project and do it well." My voice was cold as I took out my building frustration that was aimed at my own friends and my frustrations about checking her out when we were both girls and it was wrong on her.

She smirked, it made her golden eyes practically spark with life. I blinked. They'd been black last week. "Calm down, Bella. I just asked if you've watched any of the other movies yet."

"Did you get contacts?" I blurted out, completely ignoring what she wanted to know, though some part of me knew she needed to know where I was at. It was only fair, given how much this project was worth. She deserved to have a competent partner.

She looked completely befuddled by my sudden question. "No."

"Oh," I mumbled. "I thought there was something different about your eyes."

She shrugged and looked away.

In fact, I was sure there was something different. I vividly remembered the flat black color of her eyes the last time she'd glared at me – the color was striking against her pale skin and her long auburn hair. Today, they were a golden butterscotch. I didn't understand how they could be so different, unless she was lying for some reason about the contacts.

I looked down. Her hands were clenched into hard fists again.

I finally remembered her initial question. "I went through all I missed in this class and made a list of the movies from the first six weeks that I've never watched before, but I haven't gotten around to watch them yet. I have seenThe Gold Rushwith Charlie Chaplin from 1925 andThe Phantom Of The Operaalso from 1925."

She seemed relieved to have me bring the subject of our project back up. "Okay, so there's still five that you haven't seen. And the first half ofKing Kong, of course."

I thought back to the list I made, frowning. "I only counted four."

"Which ones do you have on your list?"

I opened my notebook to the page I'd wrote it down on. "I haveBen-Hurfrom 1925,Nosferatufrom 1922,The Birth of a Nationfrom 1915, andA Trip to the Moonfrom 1902."

"You're missingThe Four Horsemen of the Apocalypsefrom 1921. It was a homework project. You can borrow a copy of that dvd from Mr. Berty. We all got one at the time, and I do believe everyone returned it, so he should have about twenty-six copies of it."

"Okay, I'll do that." I scribbled the name on my list of movies to be watched.

"If you'd like, I could bring you copies of the other movies so you can watch them. My father has quite a collection of movies. I'm sure he wouldn't mind me loaning them to you."

I blinked in honest surprise. I hadn't expected the offer and was completely thrown. "Sure, that would be nice."

"I'll bring them tomorrow."

"Okay."

We were silent for a few minutes. I figured she was too polite to tell me that there was too much I didn't know for us to have an intelligent conversation until I was fully caught up.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" she asked. I had the feeling that she was forcing herself to make small talk with me. Paranoia swept over me. It was like she had heard what I'd told Jessica about her at lunch and was trying to prove me wrong.

"Not in the slightest," I answered completely honestly. Everyone else in school already knew I hated the snow when it did make appearances.

"You don't like the snow." It wasn't a question.

I answered anyways. "No."

"But you don't mind the rain?"

"I'm used to it. I've lived here my whole life. It would make for a miserable life if I didn't enjoy it, given it rains ninety percent of the year here."

"Then why don't you like snow?"

I didn't understand her curiosity, and I understood my compulsion to want to answer even less. "If it's snowing, it means it's too cold for rain."

She let out a chuckle, it was the type that wasn't about amusement so much as being about shock. "Doesn't your mother live in the south somewhere?"

"Yes." There was no point in denying it. I was sure she already knew everything about my family. It was impossible not to. The fact that my mom walked out and left me home alone was something that was still talked about at the lodge. It was common knowledge.

"If you don't like the cold then why don't you go to live with her?"

"Is that supposed to be funny?" I asked harshly, my hands clenching into fists. Surely I wouldn't get into too much trouble if I broke her nose for defending my dad.

"No." She seemed legitimately bewildered by my reaction.

Well, she'd asked. "I would never leave my father – just walk out like my mom did. It was pure cruelty. He needs someone steady in his life, someone that loves him more than mother nature. After almost seventeen years his heart is practically fully healed, for which I'm grateful. Maybe someday soon he'll be ready to date again, but it would destroy him if I left. I'll be going off to college at the end of the next school year and moving on with my life. That's bad enough. I have no idea how he'll fend for himself without me." I'd said too much, my temper having gotten away from me. I shut my mouth.

"That's how it's supposed to happen. You grow up and become an adult yourself. Your father can't expect you to not live your life." Edythe seemed almost bemused by my words.

"He'd never stop me. But that isn't what I'm saying and you wouldn't understand. You're only a freshman. Wait until you're closer to graduating. You'll understand by then that it's not just you that rely on your parents. They rely on you too. I admit that it's a bit different for people who have two parents raising them then it is for me, as at least they have each other. Still... there's a symbiotic relationship between parent and child."

She frowned at me, and I wondered what she was thinking. She didn't comment though.

"But your mother, don't you feel bad about always leaving her behind?" So she did know about me.

"It's different." I didn't bother to explain why, I was sure she could figure it out on her own. "Besides, she's remarried now. She's also traveling with him."

Her gaze became appraising. "You put on a good show," she said slowly. "But I think you miss her more than you let on."

I grimaced at her, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at her like the five-year-old child her words made me suddenly feel like. I turned away.

"Am I wrong?"

I bit my tongue in an effort to stop myself from answering.

"I didn't think so," she murmured almost smugly.

"What does it matter toyou?" I asked, irritated. I kept my eyes turned away, watching the clock and hoping the bell would ring.

"That's a very good question," she muttered, so quietly that I wondered if she was talking to herself. However, after a few seconds of silence, I decided that was the only answer I was gonna get.

I sighed, scowling in frustration.

"Am I annoying you?" she asked. She sounded amused.

I glanced at her without thinking…and told the truth again. "Not exactly. I'm more annoyed at myself. My face is so easy to read – I'm usually considered an open book." I frowned.

"On the contrary. I find you very difficult to read." Despite everything that I'd said and she'd guessed, she sounded like she meant it.

"You must be a good reader then," I replied, there was a subtle undertone layer of sarcasm in my voice as even Eric found me easy to read, but she didn't seem to hear it.

"Usually." She smiled widely, flashing a set of perfect, ultra-white teeth.

The bell rang just then as Mr. Berty asked everyone to please turn their desks to the original positions. Most of them didn't bother, getting up and running out of the door as quickly as they could. But I straightened my desk and then gathered my stuff to head out.

Edythe straightened her desk as well before rushing out the door, moving so fast I almost missed it. I shook my head.

Angela came up beside me. "Edythe seemed friendly today, anyways."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure what was with her last Tuesday."

Angela and I both left class, heading to biology together. Mike met up with us about halfway there.

I did another lab with Ashley Dowling. This time, I didn't even bother to offer her the microscope. She was pretty good in most classes, but she was hopeless in science. I handed her my paper once I was finished so she could write down the answers on her paper.

At the end of class I walked with Mike to gym. He prattled on about the snow. I ignored him.

It was volleyball again today, but Coach Clapp just had me run laps around the gym. It was a healthier experience for everyone. Most of the kids in the class breathed a sigh of relief when the Coach told me to run laps. I couldn't blame them. Handing me a ball was the equivalent of handing me a chainsaw, dangerous in the extreme.

The rain was just a mist by the time class was done and I was walking out to the parking lot. As soon as I got in the cab, I got it on and the heater running. I unzipped my jacket, put the hood down, and fluffed my damp hair out so the heater could dry it on the way home.

I looked around to make sure it was clear. That's when I noticed the still, white figure. Edythe Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, three cars down from me, and staring intently in my direction. I swiftly looked away and threw the truck into reverse, almost hitting Austin's rusty Toyota Corolla in my haste. Luckily for Austin's car, I stomped on the brake just in time. It was just the sort of car that my truck would make scrap metal out of. I took a deep breath, still looking out the other side of my car, and cautiously pulled out again, with greater success. I stared straight ahead as I passed the Volvo, but from a peripheral peek, I could swear I saw her laughing.


	3. phenomenon

When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.

It was the light. It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest, but it was clearer somehow. I realized there was no fog veiling my window.

I jumped up to look outside, and then groaned in horror.

A fine layer of white stuff covered the yard, dusted the top of my truck, and whitened the road. But that wasn't the worst part. All the rain from yesterday had frozen solid – coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, gorgeous patterns, and making the driveway a deadly icy slick. Especially for me. I had enough trouble not falling down when the ground was dry; it might be safer for me to go back to bed now.

Charlie had left for work by the time I got downstairs, a note on the kitchen counter informing me that he was helping out another county yet again. It wasn't uncommon out here, not enough money in the budget of most of the surrounding counties to truly afford a large police force, so the counties helped each other out as needed. Even some of the bigger areas, like North Bend and Seattle, didn't truly have enough police to do what would actually be needed if a crisis ever truly hit. It was yet another sore topic for my dad.

I ate a quick bowl of cereal and drank some orange juice straight from the carton. I knew it was a bad habit to have, but Charlie never drank the juice I brought home anyways. In truth, I was lucky if I caught Charlie drinking anything other than coffee or beer.

I was excited to go to school. I knew it was because I would get another chance to see Edythe, I refused to admit it even to myself though.

I should be avoiding her entirely. Between my brainless babbling yesterday and the way she treated me last week – not to mention her obvious lies – I knew it was foolish to be looking forward to spending time with her. I couldn't help myself though, even if she and I were in completely different stratospheres when it came to leagues.I shook my head. No i wasn't gay.

It took every ounce of concentration to make it down the icy brick driveway alive. I almost lost my balance when I finally got to my truck, but I managed to cling to the side mirror and save myself. Clearly, today was going to be nightmarish.

Driving to school, I distracted myself from my fear of humiliating myself once there by thinking about Edythe and her family. There was something so strange about them all. Each one of them looked far older then they claimed to be, with Edythe looking the youngest of them all, and even she looked closer to eighteen than the fourteen or fifteen that she should be, given her grade. Alice looked to be right on the cusp of adulthood, in spite of her small stature, I thought she had to be almost twenty, at least from the way she looked and acted. Rosalie could easily pass for anywhere from twenty-one to twenty-five, as could Emmett. As for Jasper, the only thing I could think of him was ageless, I supposed he could pass for eighteen or so, but he could just as easily pass for thirty. None of them looked the age they were supposed to be though, and I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they were in witness protection or something and pretending to be younger than they really were. I wondered if dad would be able to tell me if I asked. Would he even know?

I was surprised when I arrived at school with no troubles. My truck had no problems with the black ice that covered the roads. Even so, I realized it was foolish to be contemplating stuff that shouldn't be important rather than focusing on driving. Especially in this weather.

When I got out of my truck at school, I saw why I'd had so little trouble. Something silver caught my eye, and I walked to the back of the truck – carefully holding the side for support – to examine my tires. There were thin chains crisscrossed in diamond shapes around them. Charlie had gotten up who knew how early to put snow chains on my truck. My throat suddenly felt tight. My father's thoughtfulness caught me by surprise.

I was standing by the back corner of the truck, struggling to fight back the sudden wave of emotion the snow chains had brought on, when I heard an odd sound.

It was a high-pitched screech, and it was fast becoming painfully loud. I spun around, startled.

I saw several things simultaneously. Nothing was moving in slow motion, the way it does in the movies. Instead, the adrenaline rush seemed to make my mind work much faster, and I was able to absorb several things in clear detail at once.

Edythe Cullen was standing four cars down, staring at me in horror. Alice and her stood side by side, her face was an identical mask of horror. Further back were the three older members of the family, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett – all of their faces were completely aloof, unconcerned with what was happening. Theirs were the only ones.

Jessica, Angela, and Mike – who I assume had all been chatting moments earlier – were standing across the lot besides Mike's SUV all staring in shock and fear. Austin's Corolla was just to their left, where Austin, Rob, Ben and Eric all had similar masks on their faces. To the right of Mike's SUV, Lauren was just getting out of her rusted out Mustang, her mouth was forming a word, I had no clue what. She too looked horrified.

Many of the other faces blended together, but amongst all of them, there was one solid fact, everyone had the same looks of horror, shock, terror and fear.

Then came the far more important fact of Tyler's dark blue van skidding, tires locked and squealing against the brakes, spinning wildly across the ice of the parking lot. It was going to hit the back corner of my truck – right where I was standing. I always knew my bad luck was going to get me killed someday and it looked like today was that day.

I locked eyes with Tyler. I heard his engine rev. Something rock hard and ice cold hit me, but not from the direction I was expecting. I felt my head connect with concrete.

Everything went black.

I opened my eyes as I felt a hard bump, everything was groggy. A bright light was shining in my eyes. I recognized the face above the light, Brett Warner. He'd graduated about four years ago. I remembered when he took the job as the EMT, it had been all dad had wanted to talk about for days.

I closed my eyes.

"Bella, stay with me now. We'll be to the hospital soon."

I groaned and tried to open my eyes again, but it was too much work. I couldn't remember how to do it.

"How's she doing?" Someone said from the front of the ambulance. I was sure that's what I was in. It sounded like it was Martin Klark, he was probably the driver.

"I'm guessing a concussion and at least a couple broken ribs. We'll know for sure once she gets into the hospital," Brett said, his normally easy going voice sounded strained.

"She's lucky to be alive. If Edythe Cullen hadn't been right there and shoved her down we'd have been picking up a body." It was Martin again, this time I was sure it was his voice.

"Yeah well, she could have been a little gentler with the shove," Brett muttered.

Everything faded to black again.

When I came to the second time the first thing I remembered was the fact that Tyler had tried to kill me. I remembered locking eyes and hearing him put his foot to the accelerator. We had dated for two years. He'd just tried to kill me. I started to hyperventilate. I heard a heart monitor go crazy.

"Bella, you need to calm down." I'd recognize the smooth melodic voice anywhere. It was Edythe.

I opened my eyes immediately, seeking her out. "What happened?"

"Tyler lost control of his van and was skidding towards you. I was near you and saw what was going to happen, so I shoved you down. Unfortunately in my panic I pushed you too hard. You hit your head pretty hard on the pavement. My dad thinks you've got a concussion, a couple broken ribs too. I've been waiting for you to wake up because I wanted to personally apologize for what happened. If I'd been a bit more careful then you might not have been injured at all."

"That wasn't what happened. Tyler deliberately tried to kill me." I remembered the look in his eyes. It had to have been on purpose.

"I assure you, he never wanted to harm you. That wasn't what he was–" Edythe stopped. "What I mean is that I could tell that wasn't his intention or desire."

"But the way she looked at me..." I trailed off. "Wait a second, you weren't anywhere near me."

"I was standing right next to you, Bella."

"No, you weren't. I remember. You were beside Alice at your car. The rest of your family was behind you two. They were the only three in the entire lot completely unconcerned by the fact that I was about to be killed."

"No, I wasn't. I was right beside you." She didn't comment on what I said about her family.

I started to dig my metaphorical heels in. Iknewthat she'd been four cars away. I couldn't have imagined it. "No, you were standing in front of your Volvo. It was four cars away from where I'd parked. In between us was Rob's nineteen eighty something Buick, Sarah's nineteen ninety five BMW rust-bucket, and June's older Lincoln Continental."

Edythe's eyes looked almost guilty as she responded to my words. "Bella, you are right about the placement of the vehicles, but I wasn't standing near my vehicle. I was right beside you. I shoved you down to keep you from getting hit, but my push was a bit too strong. You hit your heard pretty hard. It's probably why the events aren't lining up right for you."

"I don't know..." I remembered something hitting me from the side, it had felt like more than just a hand or even a pair of them. It had been cold and hard, almost as hard as what I figured the vehicle would have felt like. If she'd knocked me down then that didn't make sense. She was only a girl after all. "Maybe you're right."

Edythe smiled, seeming to be relieved by the fact that I was agreeing with her. "I am."

I looked down, memories of my brief return to consciousness while in the ambulance resurfacing. "Thank you. For saving my life."

Suddenly a doctor stepped into my room – it was one of only two private rooms in the ER and I often felt that both had my name permanently attached to them – my mouth dropped open. He wasyoung, he was blond... and he was handsomer than any movie star I'd ever seen. He was pale, though, and tired-looking, with dark circles under his black eyes. I didn't need anyone to tell me that this had to be Edythe's father. I didn't recognize him and I knew all the doctors here.

"So, Miss Swan," Dr. Cullen said in a remarkably appealing voice. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm completely fine," I grumbled, it was hardly my first time with a concussion or even broken ribs. Edythe stepped out of the room after Carlisle looked at her.

"EMT's on scene believe you have a concussion. I would like to order a CT scan to confirm it."

"You don't need to order one. I can already tell I have one, it's hardly my first." In fact, it was my second concussion this year. I could feel the pulsing pain in my head of an oncoming headache, the lights were painful to look at, staring at any one thing too long made it fuzzy – all of which were classic signs of a concussion. It was sad that I could self diagnose one.

"Yes, I've read your charts. Is there any particular reason that your medical background is larger than most people twice your age?"

"I'm accident prone and have seriously bad luck. Always been that way." I remembered dad telling me that one of the first times after I started to stand on my own I fell and hit the crib bars hard enough to cause a hairline crack on my skull. Charlie had been terrified by it. It was one of my first ever visits to the ER. I didn't remember it, of course.

"It would be my recommendation that you stay the night in the hospital."

I groaned. "What for?"

He opened his mouth, but I knew what he was about to tell me.

"Dr. Cullen, I know the reasons, but I hardly need to be shown how to wrap my ribs. I also know what to look for and do when it comes to concussions. As does my dad. He's the chief of police, he has some basic medical knowledge. And if you've really read my charts then you know this is hardly my first rodeo."

"If your father checks you out then I can hardly stop it, but I wouldn't advise it."

I knew all of this. "Where is my dad?" It wasn't like him not to be here.

"He was in the waiting room talking to someone on the phone when I was coming to check on you. Would you like me to get him?"

There was only one person he would be calling with me here. "Yes, please."

I waited impatiently for them to come back, knowing that he was probably advising my dad that I should stay in the hospital for the night – and if this was ten years ago, I'm sure my dad would have agreed. Now though, he was as used to my injuries as I was. I knew he'd take me home. There was no point staying here through the night.

As I waited, I happened to glance at the table beside me. On it, were four, still plastic wrapped, dvd cases. I reached over, stretching to grab them, really feeling the burning pain from my ribs for the first time as I did so. I shuffled through them. They were the four movies that Edythe was going to loan me. They were brand new. These hadn't been in her dad's collection.

Finally Dr. Cullen and dad stepped into the room. "Dad, you here to spring me?"

"Yeah, paper's have already been signed," dad said, confirming what I'd suspected. "You gave me a heart attack, kid. You know that right?"

"Sorry, dad," I said contritely.

To Dr. Cullen I suspected that my dad's decision to go against his recommendation seemed like unnecessary callousness about my life. It wasn't that though. It was knowledge, knowledge that this was hardly my first accident, and definitely was not going to be my last. Knowledge that I would be far more comfortable at home. Knowledge that I would spend the entire night restless and worrying about him if I couldn't go home and cook supper for him.

It wasn't long after that when dad and I were leaving, the dvds that Edythe had lent me in hand.

Part of me knew I should ask how Tyler was, but I still couldn't shake the fact in my mind that it had seemed like he had intentionally tried to kill me.

"So, what did mom say?"

Charlie looked guilty. "How did you know?"

I arched an eyebrow at him. Even if I hadn't been told that he'd been spotted on the phone, how could I not know?

"Fine, she wants you to call her," he finally said, still looking guilty.

"Okay..." I trailed off. I knew there was more.

"Alright, I told her that you were almost in a car wreck." Charlie finally broke down. "She was distressed and wants you to move down with her."

And there it was. "But she isn't coming up here, is she?" I didn't wait for the no answer that I knew I would receive, instead, I sped up, walking faster than my dad to get to his car so we could head home.

It was always the same, every injury, every ER visit, she never came. Mom loved me, and I knew that, but be it her erratic, child-like attitude or her fear of what she might face … she never came. I wondered, more often than I liked, if she'd even bother to show when I graduated from high school. Would she come to Seattle when I graduated from college? Would she come to Tacoma when I graduated from the police academy? Would she be there for my wedding, if I ever had one?

I once again shoved my concerns into a tight recess of my mind, burying them the same way I always did.

When we got home, I called mom and reassured her that I was fine. The injuries were no worse than what I normally had and she didn't need to worry. She wanted me to move down to Florida where she was currently looking for a house. I refused.

I fixed fried fish and fried okra even though it wasn't healthy, as it was quick, and served the food out in the living room where another football game was on when it was done.

After cleaning the dishes I went up stairs and opened one of the dvd cases and inserted the movie into my computer to watch.

Once the movie was finished, I went into the bathroom to shower, unwrapping the bandage around my ribs so I could do so. When I finished unwrapping it I happened to glance in the mirror. On my side, right where my broken ribs were, was the perfect, bruised indentation of a hand print.

I dreamt about Edythe that night.


	4. invitations

In my dream it was very dark, and what little light there was seemed to be radiating from Edythe's skin. I couldn't see her face, just her back as she walked away from me, leaving me in blackness. No matter how fast I ran, I couldn't catch up to her; no matter how loud I called, she never turned. Troubled, I woke in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep again for what seemed like a very long time. After that, she was in my dreams nearly every night, but always in the periphery, never in reach.

The weeks that followed the accident were uneasy, tense, and, at first, embarrassing.

To my dismay, I found myself the center of attention for the rest of the week. Tyler Crowley was impossible, following me around, obsessed with making amends to me somehow. I tried to convince what I wanted more than anything else was for him to forget all about it – especially since I had no desire to rekindle our relationship – but he remained insistent. He followed me to classes and out to my truck every day at the end of school. Lauren's glaring hatred towards me became more pronounced every day, and if I had the gut, I knew I'd tell him to ask her out already and leave me alone, but I didn't, because I was a coward.

No one seemed concerned about Edythe, though I explained over and over that she was the one who had shoved me out of the way – well, she'd shoved me down, how she'd done it from half a lot away, I still didn't know. Jessica, Mike, Eric, and everyone else I had shared this with, commented that they hadn't seen her beside me, further cementing my belief that she had been at her car.

I wondered to myself why no one else was saying that she'd been standing with her siblings before she suddenly, impossibly saved my life. I knew that part of it was that everyone had been focused on Tyler's van and me – the girl about to be crushed by the van. The other reason was also obvious, even if someone had seen her over there. It would have been impossible for her to be by my side at the same time. Since I was saved by her, anyone who had seen her with her siblings would rule it out as impossible and assume their own perception was flawed.

Unlike me, Edythe was never surrounded by crowds of bystanders eager for her first hand account. People avoided her as usual. The Cullens and the Hales sat at the same table as always, never eating, talking only among themselves. None of them, especially Edythe, glanced my way anymore.

When she sat in the desk beside me in class, she avoided all contact with me, even as were forced to face each other to work on the essay two days out of each week. She refused to talk to me during the hour long class, often times doing an impression of a statue that would put the David statue to shame. Only now and then, when her fists would ball up – skin stretched even whiter over the bones – did I notice her facade slip.

She wished she hadn't saved my life – it was the only conclusion I could reach.

I wanted very much to talk to her, and the after the accident, I tried. The last time I'd seen her, at my bedside in the ER, she'd lied to my face, and I needed to know why. I needed to understand why I was lying to every student who I told my tale to. I needed toknow what had really happened. For my own sake of mind.

But when I tried to confront her the day after the accident with a pleasant, "Hello, Edythe." She had ignored me completely.

That weekend, Jessica and Angela went for their day at the hot springs in North Bend, but I reneged on it, using my concussion as an excuse to not go, no longer feeling like celebrating my return home from Panama.

As the school days passed, I tried to ignore Edythe as thoroughly as she was ignoring me. I also tried to ignore Tyler and Mike. I wasn't very successful on any front. In the evenings, before I made supper or went to bed, I spent the hours fully encroached with Eric helping me to catch up on my homework.

By the time I'd go to bed each night, I was exhausted. And in spite of that, the dreams of Edythe continued. This was wrong.

I tried to convince Renee via my emails that I was fine, but I couldn't even lie in an email convincingly. She tried to convince me to move to Phoenix, just for a few months, but she still didn't call, and she definitely didn't offer to come up and see me.

Mike asked me on another date, I refused again, this time with a ten pound text book hurled at his head which he dodged easily. If I'd actually meant to hurt him, I would have been upset that my projectile missed. Unfortunately, I hadn't even really been aiming at his head. My goal had been his stomach.

The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day. Mike was disappointed he'd never gotten to stage his snowball fight, but pleased that a beach trip would soon be possible. The rain continued heavily, and the weeks passed.

Jessica made me aware of another event looming on the horizon. She called the second Tuesday of November to make sure I wasn't planning on asking Mike as a date to the Winter Ball.

"Are you sue you don't mind...you weren't planning to ask him?" She persisted when I told her no the first time.

"No, Jess, I doubt I'll even go," I assured her. She should know, after all, in the nine years we'd known each other, I'd been to exactly one dance – the poorly name Fall Ball we had back in fifth grade. I'd fell down three times during that dance, which had ran for the two hours immediately after we got out of classes one Friday in late October.

"It will be really fun, you know." Her words were enthusiastic, too much so.

I snorted. "Which part? The dance? Or when I fall down and break my ankle because I'm wearing some sort of torture device on my feet?"

She laughed. "Okay, I get your point. But you'll go shopping with Angela and me in Port Angeles for dresses?"

"I thought you went shopping in North Bend a few weeks ago."

"Well... we were going to but we met these really hot college kids from the University of Seattle. There were three–" And she was off. I completely tuned her out as she talked about her experience with the college boys.

I walked away from the phone to pull some fish from the freezer as she kept prattling away, also pulling out Harry's fish fry and a bag of steak fries.

I picked up the phone as soon as I got back and she was still talking. Finally, about two minutes later, she got back to the point. "So if you're absolutely sure about Mike..."

"I'm sure. You have fun with him," I encouraged.

We hung up after that and then I proceeded to fix fish and chips for supper.

The next day, I was surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish. She was silent as she walked by my side between classes and I was afraid to ask her why. If Mike had turned her down, I was the last person she would want to tell.

My fears strengthened during lunch when Jessica sat as far from Mike as possible, chatting animatedly with Eric. Mike was unusually quiet.

Mike was still quiet as he walked beside me and Angela to Film Studies even though he was scheduled for a class in the opposite direction. The uncomfortable look on his face made me even more nervous. As we got to my class, he opened the door for Angela, giving her a pointed look until she went in, then he grabbed my wrist, pulling me around the side of the building. I grimaced.

"So," Mike said, looking at the brick wall of the building, "Jessica asked me to the Winter Ball."

"That's great," I said excitedly. "You'll have a lot of fun with Jessica."

"Well..." He floundered as his face soured, clearly not happy with my response. "I told her I had to think about it."

"Why would you do that?" I didn't have to fake my disapproval, had the text book to the head not been a clear enough no?

His face turned bright red and pity shook my resolve.

"I was wondering if...well, if you might be planning to ask me."

I clenched my fists, wondering just how much it would take to get him off my case. Permanently.

"Mike, I think you should tell her yes."

"Did you already ask someone?" Mike demanded, his voice was hard.

"No," I assured him. "I'm not going to the dance at all."

"Why not?"

"You know why." I pointedly looked down at my own feet.

"Plenty of people go to dances and don't actually dance."

"Mike, if I wanted to be a wall flower I'd go to the lodge with my Dad for steak and potatoes more often."

"Then we could go somewhere else instead of the dance."

"Are you being deliberately dense, Mike? I could never go out with you. It would be like dating my brother."

Mike grunted, looking away, so it was deliberate density then.

"You shouldn't make Jess wait on you – it's rude."

"Yeah, you're right," he mumbled, and turned, dejected, to walk away from the building and head to his own class. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers to my temples, trying to push the guilt and sympathy out of my head. I banged my head once against the brick wall before opening my eyes and heading around to walk into class.

Most of the students had already turned their desks towards each other, as Wednesday and Thursday had become the two designated days to work on our essay. It was to be due at the end of the semester on the day we took our final exam.

Mr. Berty looked up when I walked in. "You're late, Ms. Swan."

I flinched. "Sorry, Mr. Berty, it won't happen again."

I hurried past him, not waiting on an answer, turning my desk to face Edythe's which had already been turned. I quickly pulled the partial essay I'd already written out of my bag.

When I looked up, Edythe was staring at me curiously, that same, familiar edge of frustration even more distinct now in her black eyes.

I stared back, surprised, expecting her to look quickly away. But instead she continued to gaze with probing intensity into my eyes. There was no question of me looking away. My hands started to shake.

Someone threw a balled up paper that hit the side of my head. It broke the spell and I looked away from Edythe, taking in a deep breath.

I looked down at my partial essay, trying to remember where I'd left off last week, knowing that she wouldn't help me, just like always since she saved my life. I allowed my hair to fall forward with my head, covering the worst of my blush. I couldn't believe how much blood had rushed to my cheeks – just because she's happened to look at me for the first time in a half-dozen weeks. I couldn't allow her to have this level of influence over me. It was pathetic. More than pathetic, it was unhealthy.

I tried very hard not to be aware of her for the rest of the hour, and, since that was impossible, at least not to let her know that I was aware of her. When the bell rang at last, I turned the desk back to it's normal position and placed my things in my bag, expecting her to leave immediately, as usual.

"Bella?" Her voice shouldn't have been so familiar to me, as if I'd known the sound of it all my life rather than just a few short weeks.

I turned slowly, unwillingly. I didn't want to feel what I knew Iwouldfeel when I looked at her too-perfect face. I didn't like how she was making me feel its unnatural. My expression was wary when I finally turned to her; her expression was unreadable. She didn't say anything.

"What? Are you speaking to me again?" I finally asked, an unintentional note of petulance in my voice.

Her lips twitched, fighting a smile. "No, not really," she admitted.

I closed my eyes and inhaled slowly through my nose, aware that I was gritting my teeth. She waited.

"Then what do you want, Edythe?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed; it was easier to talk to her coherently that way.

"I'm sorry." She sounded sincere. " I'm being very rude, I know. But it's better this way, really."

I opened my eyes. Her face was very serious.

"I don't know what you mean," I said, my voice guarded.

"It's better if we're not friends," she explained. "Trust me."

My eyes narrowed. I'd heardthatbefore.

"It's too bad you didn't figure that out earlier," I hissed through my teeth. "You could have saved yourself all this regret."

"Regret?" The word, and my tone, obviously caught her off guard. "Regret for what?"

"For not just letting that stupid van squish me."

She was astonished. She stared at me in disbelief.

When she finally spoke, she almost sounded mad. "You think I regret saving your life?

No, not really – given her surprise – but what other reason would she act the way she had? "Iknowyou do," I snapped.

"You don't know anything." She was definitely mad.

I turned my head sharply away from her, clenching my jaw against all the wild accusations I wanted to hurl at her. I picked up my bag, then walked to the door. I meant to sweep dramatically out of the room, but of course I caught the toe of my boot on the doorjamb causing me to drop my bag, which happened to land on my other foot. I closed my eyes for a second, wishing I could just magically rewind the last thirty seconds. I couldn't of course. I went to pick up my bag, but Edythe was already at my side and had picked it up for me. She handed it to me, her face hard.

"Thank you," I said icily.

Her eyes narrowed.

"You're welcome," she retorted.

I turned away from her and stalked off to science without looking back.

I couldn't tell you what the science class had been about ten minutes after it was over, but I could tell you that Gym was brutal. We'd moved on to basketball. My team never passed me the ball, so that was good, but I fell down a lot. Sometimes I took people with me. Today I was worse than usual because my head was so filled with Edythe. I tried to concentrate on my feet, but she kept creeping back into my thoughts just when I really needed my balance.

It was a relief, as always, to leave. I almost ran to the truck; there were just so many people I wanted to avoid, including the three students I knocked over in gym with me today. The truck had suffered only minimal damage in the accident. I'd had to replace the taillights and if I'd had a real paint job, I would have touched that up. Tyler's parents had to sell the van for parts.

I almost had a stroke as I rounded the corner and saw someone leaning against the side of my truck. Then I realized it was Ben. I started walking again.

"Hey, Ben," I called. It wasn't completely unheard of for him and I to hang out, but he wasn't usually waiting around for me either, preferring to hang with Conner and Rob.

"Hi, Bella."

"What's up?" I said as I was unlocking the door. I wasn't paying attention to the uncomfortable edge in his voice, so his next words took me by surprise.

"Uh, I was wondering...if you would go to the Winter Ball with me?"

I blinked, looking at him in shock. "Wait, what?"

"Well...since you're single now and all? I just thought maybe we could go together...I mean you are single right? I know Tyler's been crowing that he's going to take you but we all saw the very public 'get lost' on your first day back."

Ben was rambling, a relatively normal trait of him. But as his words invaded my mind, I started to glare at him. "What do you mean Tyler is crowing that he's taking me?"

"He was telling all of us in the gym locker room that he had it in the bag, especially since you turned Mike down."

It took every ounce of will power in me not to do something volatile. "I'm not going to the dance, Ben. So ask someone else."

"Oh, okay," he said. "Well maybe next time."

"Sure," I agreed, and then bit my lip. I wouldn't want him to take that too literally.

He slouched off, back toward school. I heard a low chuckle.

Edythe was walking past the front of my truck, looking straight forward, her lips pressed together. I yanked the door of my truck open and jumped inside, slamming the door loudly behind me. I revved the engine deafeningly and reversed out into the aisle. Edythe was in her car already, two spaces down, sliding out smoothly in front of me, cutting me off. She stopped there – to wait for her family; I could see the four of them walking this way, but still by the cafeteria. I considered taking out the rear of her shiny Volvo, but there were too many witnesses. I looked in my rear-view mirror. A line was beginning to form. Directly behind me, Tyler Crowley was in his recently acquired used Sentra, waving. I was too aggravated – both with him and with Edythe – to bother to acknowledge him.

While I was sitting there, looking everywhere but at the car in front of me, I heard a knock on my passenger side window. I looked over; it was Tyler. I glanced back in my rear-view mirror, confused. His car was still running, the door left open. I leaned across the cab to crank the window down. It was stiff. I got it halfway down, then gave up.

"I'm sorry, Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." I was annoyed – obviously the holdup wasn't my fault.

"Oh, I know – I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.

I couldn't believe it, he was worse than a dog with a bone. I tried to remember why I'd even dated him for two years, and failed. "Yeah. I've heard all about your plan to take me to the dance. The answer's no. Crowley," I said, using his last name just to get on his nerve.

"But –"

"I'm not going to the dance."

"That's cool. We still have prom."

And before I could respond, he was walking back to his car. I could feel the shock on my face. I looked forward to see Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper all sliding into the Volvo. In her rear-view mirror, Edythe's eyes were on me. She was unquestionably shaking with laughter, as if she'd heard every word of Tyler's and my conversation. My foot itched toward the gas pedal...one little bump wouldn't hurt any of them, just that glossy silver paint job. I revved the engine.

But they were all in, and Edythe was speeding away. I drove home slowly, carefully, muttering to myself the whole way.

When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner. It was a long process and it would keep me busy. While I was simmering the onions and chilies, the phone rang. I was almost afraid to answer it, but it might be Charlie.

It was Jessica, and she was jubilant; Mike had caught her after school to accept her invitation. I celebrated with her briefly while I stirred. She had to go, she wanted to call Angela and Lauren. I suggested, super casual like – that's too say, not at all – that perhaps Lauren should invite Tyler. It would at least get him off my back. I doubted Ben would ask me again, so I wasn't as worried about him. Jess thought it was a great idea. Now that she was sure of Mike, she didn't sound as vindictive when she made a query about me going to the dance. I told her no again. It wasn't my scene.

After I hung up, I tried to concentrate on dinner – dicing the chicken especially; I didn't want to make another trip to the emergency room so soon. But I didn't get very far because the doorbell rang. I knew it had to be Eric.

"Come on in, I'm in the kitchen," I shouted.

A minute later, Eric walked into the kitchen. "Just what are you making?"

"Enchiladas, You can stay and eat with Charlie and me after he gets home."

"Sounds great...actually, speaking of meals together, and that kind of thing –" He broke off suddenly.

I looked up from what I was doing, I could see the sweat rolling off his face. I suddenly knew with a sickening feeling where he was going. Three times today was enough to even give me a pointed hint. "No, Eric. I don't want to go to the dance with you. I'm not going. Period," I said it softly, trying to be gentle.

"Oh," he muttered.

"Perhaps you could ask Angela. She does like you, you know."

"Yeah... yeah that sounds like a good idea."

I finished the enchiladas and put them in the oven while he set up at the table to help me with what was left of the eighteen inch stack of homework I'd been given last month. I was down to only two inches left, so I figured I was doing good.

We'd just finished about a half inch of the stack when Charlie finally got home. Charlie seemed suspicious of the smell of the peppers. Not that I could blame him. Of course, he was the one that had wanted to try a five alarm chili two years ago. I'd only indulged him and made it.

Charlie, Eric and I went to the living room to eat the enchiladas, and Eric gulped it down as if it was his first time ever trying real Mexican food. Of course, considering the closest thing to Mexican that he'd probably ever had was the Taco Bell in Port Angeles, it didn't actually surprise me.

Once Eric was done eating, he took off, leaving his plate and fork on the coffee table. I rolled my eyes.

"Dad?" I asked, after he left.

"Yeah, Bella?"

"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I was thinking about taking a trip down to Tacoma the weekend before Thanksgiving. Spend a few days down there, since we'll be taking our fall break at that time, I'd be back by thanksgiving so you wouldn't have to fend for yourself for the holiday."

"Why?" He sounded surprised, as if he couldn't imagine why I'd want to go down there.

It was so I had a really good excuse if anyone else asked me to that dance. I didn't say that. "I was checking some stuff online last night. The police academy is having an open house that week. I thought I'd go down and check it out. I know I'm far too young to apply, but I want to go down and see the place."

"Hmph," Charlie grumbled. I knew what he was thinking. We'd had arguments about my plans several times since I'd originally told him. He'd wanted me to go off and get some fancy degree, perhaps move to Hawaii where I could get some tan and get rid of my albino complex. I didn't want that though. We'd went round and round about how dangerous being a cop was. We'd also went round and round about how a person didn't need 'academy smarts' to be a cop. But he was wrong about that. More and more police forces required it, and while I'd ideally like to come to work in Forks, I may have to settle for a town nearby, like Port Angeles.

"That truck probably doesn't get very good gas mileage," he finally said.

"I know, I'll stop in Montesano and Olympia."

"Are you going all by yourself?" he asked, and I couldn't tell if he was suspicious I had a secret boyfriend or just worried about car trouble.

"Yes."

"Tacoma is a big city – you could get lost," he fretted.

"It's hardly my first time there." I pointed out.

"It'll be your first time by yourself. Do you want me to come with you?"

I barely stopped my eyes from bulging in horror at the thought. "So you can complain to the instructors about how pointless going to the academy is? I don't think so. I actually want to make a good impression."

"Oh, okay."

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

"Will you go to the dance on Saturday, and go on Sunday?"

Blast it, I'd hoped he wouldn't notice the dates.

"No, I don't dance, Dad." He, of all people, should understand that – I didn't get my balance problems from my mother.

He did understand. "Oh, that's right."

The next morning, when I pulled into the parking lot, I deliberately parked as far as possible from the silver Volvo. I didn't want to put myself in the path of too much temptation and end up owing her a new car. Getting out of the cab, I fumbled with my key and it fell into a puddle at my feet. As I bent to get it, a white hand flashed out and grabbed it before I could. I jerked upright. Edythe Cullen was right next to me, leaning casually against my truck.

"How do youdothat?" I asked in amazed irritation.

"Do what?" She held my key out as she spoke. As I reached for it, she dropped it into my palm.

"Appear out of thin air."

"Bella, it's not my fault if you are exceptionally unobservant." Her voice was quiet as usual – velvet, muted.

I scowled at her perfect face. I knew quite well that she hadn't been there when I got out of my truck. If anything, I was too observant when it came to her. Her eyes were light again today, a deep, golden honey color. Then I had to look down, to reassemble my now-tangled thoughts.

"Why the traffic jam last night?" I demanded, still looking away. "I thought you were supposed to be pretending I don't exist, not irritating me to death."

"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine. I had to give him his chance." She snickered.

"You..." I gasped. I couldn't think of a bad enough word. It felt like the heat of my anger should physically burn her, but she only seemed more amused.

"And I'm not pretending you don't exist," she continued.

"So youaretrying to irritate me to death? Since Tyler's van didn't do the job?"

Anger flashed in her tawny eyes. Her lips pressed into a hard line, all signs of humor gone.

"Bella, you are utterly absurd," she said, her low voice cold.

My palms tingled – I wanted so badly to hit something. I was surprised at myself. I usually didn't jump to violence as quickly as I did with her. I turned my back and started to walk away.

"Wait," she called. I kept walking, sloshing angrily through the rain. But she was next to me, easily keeping pace.

"I'm sorry, that was rude," she said as we walked. I ignored her. "I'm not saying it isn't true," she continued, "but it was rude to say it, anyway."

"Why won't you leave me alone?" I grumbled.

"I wanted to ask you something, but you sidetracked me," she chuckled. She seemed to have recovered her good humor.

"Do you have a multiple personality disorder?" I asked severely.

"You're doing it again."

Doing what? I was just being honest, unlike the person talking to me ever was. I sighed. "Fine then. What do you want to ask?"

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday – you know, the day of the Winter Ball –"

"Are you trying to befunny?" I interrupted her, wheeling toward her. My face got drenched as I looked up at her expression.

Her eyes were wickedly amused. "Will you please allow me to finish?"

I bit my lip and clasped my hands together, interlocking my fingers, so I couldn't do anything rash.

"I heard that you weren't planning on going to do the dance, so I was wondering if maybe you'd want to spend the day with me instead as I wasn't planning on going either."

I blinked. That sounded suspiciously like she was asking me out on a date. It wasn't right for two girls to date. It was unnatural.

"What?" I asked, I wanted to be a hundred percent sure I understood her.

"Well I was thinking about hiking to a little meadow that day. It's a favorite place of mine. I thought you might enjoy it too."

Hiking? Me? Did she not pay attention at lunch or in the one class we shared. In spite of my heart beating a mile a minute at the thought of being alone. With her. It was easy to refuse.

"I'm sorry, I'm actually planning on driving to Tacoma that day. Since the week after is the autumn, break, I was going to spend a few days there."

"Oh, hmm..." she trailed off as if unsure what to do, then her eyes lit up, the amusement was back. "Well what if I gave you a ride there?"

"WHY?"I was totally stunned.

"Well, I need to go down that way in the next few weeks anyways to pick up things that I can't find locally. Besides, to be honest, I'm not sure your truck can make it."

"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." I started to walk again, but I was too surprised to maintain the same level of anger.

"But can your truck make it on one tank of gas?" She matched my pace again.

"I don't see how that is any of your business." Stupid, shiny Volvo owner.

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."

"Honestly, Edythe." I felt a thrill go through me as I said her name, and I hated it. "I can't keep up with you. I thought you didn't want to be my friend."

"I said it would be better if weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Oh, thanks, now that that'sallcleared up." Heavy sarcasm. I realized I had stopped walking again. We were under the shelter of the cafeteria roof now, so I could more easily look at her face. Which certainly didn't help my clarity of thought.

"It would be more...prudentfor you not to be my friend," she explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Bella."

Her eyes were gloriously intense and serious as she uttered that last sentence, her voice smoldering. I couldn't remember how to breathe.

"Will you go with me to Tacoma?" she asked, still intense.

I still couldn't remember how to breathe so I shook my head before finally remembering how. "We're not talking about a one day trip to Tacoma, I plan on being there a few days."

"So? It could be fun. I get tired of small town life as much as the next person."

"So, are you suggesting we share a hotel room? My father is the chief of police. I doubt if he'd go for it if you were blood, let alone anything short of that."

"Don't be ridiculous, we'd get separate rooms. If you're really worried, we could even stay at different hotels. Or at the very least, be on different floors."

"You can't be serious."

"I'm deadly serious, Bella. Come on. Say yes."

I opened my mouth to do just that, then I thought of Charlie, of what I'd told him just last night. I couldn't do it. "No." I knew if it was a single day, no amount of power would have made me say no.

She glowered, her face frustrated.

"We'll talk about it at lunch." She paused, taking a breath that appeared unnecessary. "You reallyshould stay away from me."

She turned abruptly and walked back the way we'd come.


	5. blood type

I made my way to English in a daze. I didn't even realize when I first walked in that class had already started.

"Thank you for joining us, Ms. Swan," Mr. Mason said in a disparaging tone.

I flushed and hurried to my seat. That was the second time I'd been late to a class in two days. I never used to be late to classes.

It wasn't till the end of class that I realized that Mike was completely missing from class. It was strange for him. Mike didn't care all that much about his grades, but even so, he always took care to be where he should be and be there on time so he could continue to play football. Mike's big dream was to get a football scholarship and get out of this town. He didn't want to take over his parents store, even though that's what his parents wanted for him.

He met Eric and I at the door just outside of class.

"Where the hell were you?" I muttered to him.

"As far as Mr. Mason is concerned... I had the stomach flu and couldn't make it to my first class."

I knew a lie when I heard one, and apparently so did Eric because he asked, "And where were you really."

"I overslept, okay."

Mike seemed to gain enthusiasm after that, telling us about the weather report for this weekend. The rain was supposed to take a minor break and there was supposed to be actual sun for a change. As such, Mike thought the trip to La Push might be possible. I asked who all he was planning on inviting so I could gauge my own excitement at the idea. I loved going to La Push, but certain people tended to ruin it. Specifically, Lauren. He went through the list, getting to her name about half way through. I pressed my lips tightly together to stop myself from groaning.

The rest of the morning passed in a bit of a blur. It was difficult to believe that I hadn't just imagined what Edythe had said, and the way her eyes had looked. Maybe it was just a very convincing dream that I'd confused with reality. That seemed more probable than that I really appealed to her on any level.

So I was impatient and frightened as Jessica and I entered the cafeteria. I wanted to see her face, to see if she'd gone back to the cold, indifferent person I'd known for the last several weeks. I also wanted to know if she'd really meant what she'd said about talking more at lunch, did she expect me to join her family at their table? The very thought caused a level nausea that even I was unfamiliar with. Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans, completely unaware of my inattention.

Disappointment flooded through me as my eyes unerringly focused on her table. The other four were there, but she was absent. Had she gone home? I followed the still-babbling Jessica through the line, crushed. I'd lost my appetite – I bought nothing but a bottle of lemonade. I just wanted to go sit down and sulk.

"Edythe Cullen is staring at you again," Jessica said, finally breaking through my abstraction. "I wonder why she's sitting alone today."

My head snapped up. I followed her gaze to see Edythe, smiling crookedly, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where she usually sat. Once she'd caught my eye, she raised one hand and motioned with her index finger for me to join her. As I stared in disbelief, she winked.

"Does she meanyou?" Jessica asked with insulting astonishment in her voice.

"Yeah, she wants to talk to me about my plans for next weekend," I said without thinking and instantly regretting it.

"Are you going with her to the dance?" Are you gay Bella? she hissed.

"I already told you, I'm not going to the dance," I said as she tilted her finger at me again. "I need to go over there."

"Youwilltell me what is going on later."

I barely heard her as I walked towards her, but I could definitely feel her staring holes in my back.

When I reached her table, I stood behind the chair across from her, unsure.

"Why don't you sit with me today?" she asked, smiling.

I sat down automatically, watching her with caution. She was still smiling. It was hard to believe that someone so beautiful could be real. I was afraid that she might disappear in a sudden puff of smoke, and I would wake up.

She seemed to be waiting for me to say something.

"This is different." I finally managed.

"Well..." She paused, and then the rest of words followed in a rush. "I decided as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

I waited for her to say something that made sense. The seconds ticked by.

"You know I don't have any idea what you mean," I eventually pointed out.

"I know." She smiled again, and then she changed the subject. "I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you."

"They'll get over it." I could feel their stares boring into my back.

"I may not give you back, though," she said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes, lets talk about that. Back to our conversation this morning. There's no way I'm riding to Tacoma with you."

"We'd get there faster in my car. Does your truck even get up to fifty?"

It did, wheezing like an old man that smoke three packs a day his whole life while doing so. It wouldn't get up to sixty though. "I don't need to get therefast. I just need to get there in one piece."

"I'd get you there in one piece."

"You're a freshman, how are you even driving? You should be fifteen, which makes it illegal. My dad's a cop, remember."

"I was held back in middle school. I'm sixteen, and I have my license. If you'd like, I could show it to you." The way she said it, made it sound like she was suggesting she could show me something else too.

I shook my head. "So? That doesn't make us taking a several day trip together a good idea."

"Well, I'm tired of trying to stay away from you. So I'm giving up." She was still smiling, but her ocher eyes were serious.

She was back to being mystifying. "Giving up?"

"Yes – giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." Her smile faded as she explained, and a hard edge crept into her voice.

"You've completely lost me."

The breathtaking crooked smile reappeared.

"I always say too much when I'm talking to you – that's one of the problems."

"Don't worry – I don't understand any of it," I said wryly.

"I'm counting on that."

"So..." I trailed off when she started talk.

"Why are you wanting to go to Tacoma anyways?"

"There's an open house at the police academy. I wanted to go and visit."

"So you want to be a cop?"

"Yes." My voice was sharp, I didn't want her making fun of me.

"It's a noble career path." She paused as if thinking of what to say next. "Cops often ride in pairs, you know."

"The answer's still no."

"Come on, it would be fun. You, me, two hundred miles of open road. No annoying busy bodies to gossip about it." Her eyes flashed to her own family as she said the last part while my own mind went towards my friends sitting at the table not all that far behind me.

"No, Edythe." It was getting harder and harder for me to say no to this request, but if my dad found out he'd kill me. And her. Not necessarily in that order. "If you want to go out on a date with me, then let's go out on a date. Go to a movie or out to eat or something. But this, spending several days with you in a different town... That's too fast."

She groaned. "Fine. We'll talk about it more later."

"Does all this –" I waved my hand in a way that could mean nothing or anything. "Mean that we're friends now?

"Friends..." she mused, dubious.

"Or not," I muttered.

She grinned. "Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you." Behind her smile, the warning was real.

"You say that a lot," I noted, trying to ignore the sudden trembling in my stomach and keep my voice even.

"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."

"I think you've made your opinion on the subject of my intellect clear, too." My eyes narrowed.

She smiled apologetically.

"So, as long as I'm being...not smart, we'll try to be friends?" I struggled to sum up the confusing exchange while secretly hoping she'd say we'd be more.

"That sounds about right."

I looked down at my hands wrapped around the lemonade bottle, not sure what to do now.

"What are you thinking?" she asked curiously.

I looked up into her deep gold eyes, and, as usual, blurted out the truth.

"I'm trying to figure out who you are."

Her jaw tightened, but she kept her smile in place with some effort.

"Are you having any luck with that?" she asked in an offhand tone.

"Not too much," I admitted.

She chuckled. "What are your theories?"

I blushed. I didn't want to admit to her about my thoughts of witness protection or undercover cop, or worse, some modern day Bruce Wayne. There was no way I was owning up to any of it.

"Won't you tell me?" she asked, tilting her head to one side with a shockingly tempting smile.

I shook my head. "Too embarrassing."

"That'sreallyfrustrating, you know," she complained.

"No," I disagreed quickly, my eyes narrowing. "I can'timaginewhy that would be frustrating at all – just because someone refuses to tell you what they're thinking, even if all the while making cryptic little remarks specifically designed to keep you up at night wondering what they could possibly mean...now, why would that be frustrating?"

She grimaced.

"Or better," I continued, my pent-up annoyance flowing freely now as I worked up to a tangent the same way my dad liked too. "Say that person also did a wide range of bizarre things – from saving your life under suspicious circumstances one day to treating you like a pariah the next, and she never explained any of that, either. That, also, would beverynon-frustrating."

I took a breath so I could continue, but she beat me to it.

"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"

"I don't like double standards."

We stared at each other, unsmiling.

She glanced over my shoulder, and then, unexpectedly, she snickered.

"What?"

"Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant to you – he's debating whether or not to come break up our fight." She snickered again.

I knew without looking behind me that she was talking about Mike and not Tyler. Tyler and I might have dated for two years, but Tyler didn't have a chivalrous bone in his body.

"I don't have a boyfriend. Or didn't you hear? I broke up with mine."

"I find it interesting that you didn't debate the accuracy of my statement."

"I've known most of them at that table my whole life. I'd actually be a bit surprised if one of them wasn't getting fidgety." I resisted the urge to look behind me. "I don't usually hang with other people."

My words seemed to distract her. "Aren't you hungry?" she asked suddenly.

"No." I didn't feel like mentioning that my stomach was already full – of butterflies. "You?" I looked at the empty table in front of her.

"No, I'm not hungry." I didn't understand her expression – it looked like she was enjoying some private joke.

"Can you do me a favor?" I asked after a second of hesitation.

She was suddenly wary. "That depends on what you want."

"It's not much," I assured her.

She waited, guarded but curious.

"I just wondered...if you could warn me beforehand the next time you decide to ignore me for my own good. Just so I'm prepared." I looked at the lemonade bottle as I spoke, tracing the circle of the opening with my pinkie finger.

"That sounds fair." She was pressing her lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up.

"Thanks."

"Then can I get one answer in return?" she demanded.

"One."

"Tell meonetheory."

Whoops. "Not that one."

"You didn't qualify, you just promised one answer," she reminded me.

"And you've broken promises yourself," I reminded her back.

"Just one theory – I won't laugh."

"Yes, you will." I was positive about that, unless I was correct, and in that case, there'd be some serious backlash.

She looked down, and then glanced up at me through her long black lashes, her ocher eyes scorching.

"Please?" she breathed, leaning toward me.

I blinked, my mind going blank. Holy crow, how did shedothat?

"Er, what?" I asked, dazed.

"Please tell me just one little theory." Her eyes still smoldered at me.

"Um, well. I originally thought you might be in witness protection. Except the whole point of witness protection is to blend in to the new surroundings your placed in. And if that's the case, you guys have failed completely." Was she a hypnotist? Or was I just a hopeless pushover?

"You said originally, so you don't still think that?"

"Correct, if that was the case, you'd have moved on within days of when you shoved me out of the way of Tyler's van."

She scowled at the reminder. "Then that's not a current theory."

I parroted her own words back to her, "You didn't qualify."

"One current theory, please?" She looked up at me from under her lashes again.

It was impossible for me to say no. "Okay, undercover cop." I barely breathed the words.

I heard Emmett's uproarious laughter. Edythe spun to glare at her family's table. If I didn't know that it was impossible for him to have heard me, I'd almost think Emmett was laughing at my idea.

Edythe slowly turned to me, an amused smile gracing her face. "I'm afraid not."

"You said you wouldn't laugh," I reminded her as her lips twitched.

She worked to compose her face.

"I'll figure it out eventually," I warned her.

"I wish you wouldn't try." She was serious again.

"Because...?"

"What if I'm not the good guy in this story?" She smiled playfully, but her eyes were impenetrable.

"Oh," I said, as several things she'd said suddenly started to make sense. My mind spun off in a different direction, creating a new list of possibilities. "I see."

"Do you?" Her face was abruptly severe, as if she were afraid that she'd accidentally said too much.

"You're dangerous?" I guessed, my pulse quickening as I intuitively realized the truth of my own words. Shewasdangerous. She'd been trying to tell me that all along.

She just looked at me, eyes full of some emotion I couldn't comprehend.

"But not bad," I whispered, shaking my head. "No I don't believe that you're bad." She might be the daughter of someone in the mafia, or a born gang member, or maybe something like an MI6 spy, but I refused to believe that she was truly badl ok my voice was almost inaudible. She looked down, stealing my bottle lid and then spinning it on it's side between her fingers. I stared at her, wondering why I didn't feel afraid. She meant what she was saying – that was obvious. But I just felt anxious, on edge...and, more than anything else, fascinated. The same way I always felt when I was near her.

The silence lasted until I noticed the clock on the cafeteria wall.

I jumped to my feet. "We're going to be late."

"Yes, I suppose we are," she said, twirling the lid so fast it was just a blur.

I arched an eyebrow at her. "Are you coming or not?"

"I'll be there in a minute."

I gave her a disparaging look then rushed to the cafeteria door and headed to class, half running the whole way.

As soon as I stepped in the class, Mr Berty gave me a glare. I winced, but at least he didn't call me out on it this time. I hurried to my desk, spinning it to face inward. I quickly did the same with Edythe's and then sat down. I pulled out my partial essay, but I couldn't concentrate, instead, glancing at the door every few seconds.

Finally Edythe walked in about five minutes later. Mr. Berty opened his mouth but Edythe handed him a slip of paper. I frowned in confusion.

When Edythe sat across from me she murmured, "Thanks for turning my desk."

I shrugged.

She bent down and pulled out a small stack of papers and handed them to me. "I've been very remiss with you on our project. It was supposed to be a shared essay and instead we've both been working on it on our own. Here, read over what I've so far wrote. While I look over your work." She grabbed my papers before I could stop her.

I glanced down at the pages she gave me, amazed by the elegant hand written text. I started to read what she'd written, getting lost in her essay, which was much more all encompassing than my own.

I didn't notice the passing of time until the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I handed her her paper back and we both got up, turning our desks to face the front.

I was about to say something to Edythe when I happened to look up and saw Alice standing at the doorway. She made a come here motion to Edythe.

"I'll see you later," she said softly, then headed over to meet Alice.

I walked out the door, and headed to biology, passing Alice and Edythe as I went, unable to help but overhear Alice as she was talking. "You want to skip class and be outside, trust me. I've seen it."

I didn't know what to make of her words to Edythe, so frowning, I continued to class.

There was a small cardboard in front of each person's seats on the lab tables. I took my normal seat beside Ashley.

"Okay, guys, I want you all to take the three items out of the box in front of you," Mr. Banner said as he produced a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket and pulled them on. The sharp sound as the gloves snapped into place against his wrists seemed ominous to me. "The first item should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displaying it. "The second is a four pronged applicator –" he help up something that looked like a nearly toothless hair pick "– and the third is a sterile micro-lancet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open. The barb was invisible from this distance, but I knew what a lancet was and my stomach flipped.

"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards, so please don't start until I get to you." He began at Conner's table at the front of the class, carefully putting one drop of water in each of the four squares. "Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet..." He grabbed Conner's hand and jabbed the spike into the tip of Conner's middle finger. Oh no. Clammy moisture broke out across my forehead.

"Put a small drop of blood on each of the four prongs." He demonstrated, squeezing Conner's finger till the blood flowed. I swallowed convulsively, my stomach heaving.

"And then apply it to the card," he finished, holding up the dripping red card for us to see. I closed my eyes, trying to hear through the ringing in my ears.

"The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought you should all know your blood type." He sounded proud of himself. "Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission – I have slips at my desk."

He continued through the room with his water drops. I put my cheek against the cool black tabletop and tried to hold on to my consciousness. All around I could hear squeals, complaints and giggles as my classmates skewered their fingers. I breathed slowly in and out through my mouth.

"Bella, are you alright?" Mr. Banner asked. His voice was close to my head, and it sounded alarmed.

"I already know my blood type, Mr. Banner," I said in a weak voice. As many times as I'd been to the hospital over the years, I could probably tell him more about my blood than even he'd understand. I was afraid to raise my head and try to look at him.

"Are you feeling faint?"

"Yes, sir," I muttered, thinking it was quite obvious that I was.

"Can someone take Bella to the nurse, please?" he called.

I didn't have to look to know it would be Mike who volunteered.

"Can you walk?" Mr. Banner asked.

"Yes," I whispered. Just let me get out of here, I thought. I'll crawl.

Mike seemed eager as he put his arm around my waist and pulled my arm over his shoulder. I leaned against him heavily on the way out of the classroom.

Mike towed me slowly across campus. When we were around the edge of the cafeteria, out of site of building in case Mr. Banner was watching, I stopped.

"Just let me sit for a minute, please?" I begged.

He helped me to sit on the edge of the walk.

I didn't think he'd done the lab yet... but just in case. "Whatever you do, keep any bleeding fingers in your pocket." I was still so dizzy. I slumped over on my side, putting my cheek against the freezing, damp cement of the sidewalk, closing my eyes. That seemed to help a little.

"Wow, you're green, Bella," Mike said nervously.

"Bella?" a different voice called from the distance.

No! Please let me be imagining that horribly familiar voice.

"What's wrong – is she hurt?" Her voice was closer now, and she sounded upset. I wasn't imagining it. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to die. Or, at the very least, not to throw up.

Mike seemed stressed. "I think she fainted. I don't know what happened, she didn't even stick her finger."

"Bella." Edythe's voice was right beside me, relieved now. "Can you hear me?"

"No," I groaned. "Go away."

She chuckled.

"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained in a defensive tone, "but she wouldn't go any farther."

"I'll take her. You can go back to class."

"No," Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."

Suddenly the sidewalk disappeared from beneath me. My eyes flew open in shock. Edythe had scooped me up in her arms, as easily as if I weighed ten pounds instead of a hundred and ten.

"Put me down!" Please, please let me not vomit on her. She was walking before I was finished talking.

"Hey!" Mike called, already ten paces behind us.

Edythe ignored him. "You look awful," she told me, grinning.

"Put me back on the sidewalk," I moaned. The rocking movement of her walk was not helping. She held me away from her body, gingerly, supporting all my weight with just her arms – it didn't seem to bother her.

"So you faint at the sight of blood?" she asked. This seemed to entertain her.

I didn't answer. I closed my eyes again and fought the nausea with all my strength, clamping my lips together.

"And not even your own blood," she continued, enjoying herself.

I don't know how she opened the door while carrying me, but it was suddenly warm, so I knew we were inside.

"Oh my," I heard Ms. Cope gasp.

"She fainted in Biology," Edythe explained.

I opened my eyes. I was in the office, and Edythe was striding past the front counter toward the nurse's door. Ms. Cope, ran ahead of her to hold it open. Mrs. Hammond looked up from a harlequin novel, astonished, as Edythe swung me into the room and placed me gently on the crackly paper that covered the brown vinyl mattress on the one cot. Then she moved to stand against the wall as far across the narrow room as possible. Her eyes were bright, excited.

"Well, it's too early in the day for a gym injury," Mrs Hammond said, staring at me like a bug under an inspection lamp.

"Blood testing in biology. Fainted," I muttered, wishing she'd go scrutinize something else already.

"Figures you'd be the one," she murmured.

I narrowed my eyes at her.

Against the wall, Edythe muffled a snicker.

I turned my glare on her.

"Just lie down for a minute, Bella; it'll pass."

"I know," I sighed. The nausea was already fading. I closed my eyes, leaning back against the brick that the school thought passed for a pillow.

Edythe coughed, trying to hide another laugh.

"You can go back to your class now," she told her.

"I'm not taking a class during this period," she said, there was so much authority in her voice that if I didn't know for a fact that there aren't any free periods for freshmen, I'd almost believe her.

Mrs. Hammond, who should know better, as she'd been the nurse here for over thirty years, fell for it though.

"I'll go get some ice for your forehead, Bella," she said to me, and then bustled out of the room.

"I think your sister had the right idea," I moaned.

"What do you mean?"

"She suggested you skip class. I think I should have joined you."

"You heard that?"

"Yes, what did she mean by 'I've seen it', anyways?" If I'd felt better, I would have mimed quotation marks for her words.

"No clue, she's cryptic like that."

I didn't know why, but I was pretty sure she was lying.

"You scared me for a minute there," she admitted after a pause. Her tone made it sound like she was confessing a humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."

"Ha ha." I still had my eyes closed, but I was feeling more normal every minute.

"Honestly – I've seen corpses with better color. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder."

And for some reason, that sounded like complete honesty, my suspicion of her being mafia grew.

"Poor Mike. I'll bet he's mad."

"He absolutely loathes me," Edythe said cheerfully.

"Probably," I agreed. With the way Mike had been trying to get me to go out with him lately, he'd despise anyone that got in his way.

"How did you see me, anyways?" I was almost fine now, though the queasiness would probably pass faster if I'd actually eaten anything for lunch. On the other hand, maybe it was lucky my stomach was empty.

"I was standing around outside, like my sister told me to." Her voice was wry.

"Do you always obey your sister?"

"When she makes those kind of suggestions. Yes."

I heard the door and opened my eyes to see the nurse with a cold compress in her hand.

"Here you go, Bella." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking better," she added.

"I think I'm fine," I said, sitting up, just a little ringing in my ears, no spinning. The mint green walls stayed where they should.

I could see she was about to make me lie back down, but the door opened just then, and Ms. Cope stuck her head in.

"We've got another one," she warned.

I hopped down to free up the cot for the next invalid.

I handed the compress back to the nurse. "Here, I don't need this."

And then Mike staggered through the door, now supporting a sallow-looking Lee Stephens. Edythe and I drew back against the wall to give them room.

"Oh no," Edythe muttered. "Go out to the office, Bella"

I looked up at her, bewildered.

"Trust me – go."

I spun and caught the door before it closed, darting out of the infirmary. I could feel Edythe right behind me.

"You actually listened to me." She was stunned.

"I smelled the blood," I said, wrinkling my nose. Lee wasn't sick from watching other people, like me.

"People can't smell blood," she contradicted.

"Well, I can – that's what makes me sick. It smells like rust...and salt."

She was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.

"What?" I asked.

"It's nothing."

Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edythe. The look he gave Edythe confirmed what Edythe had said about loathing. He looked back at me. His eyes glum.

"Youlook better," he accused.

"Just keep you hand in your pocket," I warned him.

"It's not bleeding anymore," he muttered. "Are you going back to class?" I heard what he didn't say,can I take you back to class?

"Are you kidding? I'd just have to turn around and come back."

"Yeah. I guess...So are you going this weekend? To the beach?" While he spoke, he flashed another glare toward Edythe, making it quite clear that he didn't want Edythe to come along.

I decided to knock him down a peg or two. "Certainly. I haven't seen Jacob in a while. It'll be good to see him again."

He gritted his teeth at my words while Edythe's hands clenched where she was standing. Perhaps I hadn't thought that comment through. Though honestly, as far as Edythe knew, Jacob was a dog.

"We're going to meet at my dad's store at ten." His eyes flashed to Edythe's again. He didn't want her going, too bad I had as much right to invite someone as he did.

"I'll be there," I promised.

"I'll see you in gym, then," he said, moving uncertainly toward the door.

"See you," I replied. He looked at me once more, his round face slightly pouting, and then as he walked slowly through the door, his shoulders slumped. A swell of sympathy washed over me. I pondered seeing his sad face again... in gym.

"Gym," I groaned.

"I can take care of that." I hadn't noticed Edythe moving to my side, but she spoke now in my ear. "Go sit down and look pale," she muttered.

That wasn't difficult; I was always pale, and my recent swoon had left a light sheen of sweat on my face. I sat in one of the creaky folding chairs and rested my head against the wall with my eyes closed. Fainting spells always exhausted me.

I heard Edythe speaking softly at the counter.

"Ms. Cope?"

"Yes?" I hadn't heard her return to her desk.

"Bella has gym next hour, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking I should take her home now. Do you think you could excuse her from class?" Her voice was like melted honey. I could imagine how much more overwhelming her eyes would be.

"Do you need to be excused, too, Edythe?" Ms. Cope fluttered. Why couldn't I do that?

"No, I have Mrs. Goff, she won't mind."

"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Bella," she called to me. I nodded weakly, hamming it up just a bit.

"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With her back to the receptionist, her expression became sarcastic.

Part of me actually wanted her to carry me. I was being absurd. "I'll walk."

I stood carefully, and I was still fine. She held the door for me, her smile polite but her eyes mocking. I walked out into the cold, fine mist that had just begun to fall. It felt nice, as it washed my face clean of the sticky perspiration.

"Thanks," I said as she followed me out. "It's almost worth getting sick to miss gym."

"Anytime." She was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.

"So do you want to go? This Saturday, I mean?" I was hoping she would, though it seemed unlikely. I couldn't picture her loading up to carpool with the rest of the kids from school; she didn't belong in the same world. But just hoping that she might, made me ask.

"Where are you all going, exactly?" She was still looking ahead, expressionless.

"Down to La Push, to First Beach." I studied her face, trying to read it. Her eyes seemed to narrow infinitesimally.

She glance down at me from the corner of her eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."

Had she not heard my invitation? "I just did."

"Let's you and I not push Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." Her eyes danced; she was enjoying the idea more than she should.

"Mike-schmike," I muttered, preoccupied by the way she'd said "you and I." I liked it more thanIshould.

We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, toward my truck. Something caught my jacket, yanking me back.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked, outraged. She was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand.

I was confused. "I'm going home."

"Didn't you hear me promise to take you safely home? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?" Her voice was still indignant.

"What condition? And what about my truck?" I complained.

"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." She was towing me toward her car now, pulling me by my jacket. It was all I could do to keep from falling backward. She'd probably just drag me along anyway if I did.

"Let go!" I insisted. She ignored me. I staggered along sideways across the wet sidewalk until we reached the Volvo. Then she finally freed me – I stumbled against the passenger door.

"You are sopushy!" I grumbled.

"It's open," was all she responded. She got in the driver's side.

"I am perfectly capable of driving myself home!" I stood by the car, fuming. It was raining harder now, and I'd never put my hood up, so my hair was dripping down my back.

She lowered the automatic window and leaned toward me across the seat. "Get in, Bella."

I didn't answer. I was mentally calculating my chances of reaching my truck before she could catch me. I had to admit, they weren't good.

"I'll just drag you back," she threatened, guessing my plan.

I tried to maintain what dignity I could as I got into her car. I wasn't very successful – I looked like a half-drowned cat and my boots squeaked.

"This is completely unnecessary," I said stiffly.

She didn't answer. She fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As she pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give her the silent treatment – my face in full pout mode – but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions.

"Clair de Lune?" I asked, surprised.

"You know Debussy?" She sounded surprised, too.

"Not well," I admitted. "I only know this one because my mother sent me a music box that played it one year." I smiled, remembering the gift, one of only a few that my mother had actually truly thought out. Christmas cards with fifty dollar checks that usually bounced and three day late birthday cards didn't count.

I listened to the music, relaxing against the light gray leather seat. It was impossible not to respond to the familiar, soothing melody. The rain blurred everything outside the window into gray and green smudges. I began to realize we were driving very fast; the car moved so steadily, so evenly, though, I didn't feel the speed. Only the town flashing by gave it away.

"What is your mother like?" she asked me suddenly.

I glanced over to see her studying me with curious eyes.

"She looks a lot like me, but she's prettier," I said. She raised her eyebrows. "I have too much Charlie in me. She's more outgoing than I am, and braver. She's irresponsible and more than a little eccentric. She likes adventure, she likes to live. And she's part of the biggest scandal this town has seen in over fifty years." I bit my lip. She didn't need to know about that, assuming she didn't already.

"And your dad?"

"Charlie is my rock and foundation. I've been able to grow up with firm morals and strong ethics, thanks to him. He's the reason that I go to school and come home every day. His cooking sucks and he often wouldn't know where his keys were if it weren't for me. But he's the most amazing man in my life."

"How old are you, Bella?" Her voice sounded frustrated for some reason I couldn't imagine. She'd stopped the car, and I realized we were at Charlie's house already. The rain was so heavy that I could barely see the house at all. It was like the car was submerged under a river.

"I'm seventeen," I responded, a little confused.

"You don't seem seventeen."

Her tone was reproachful; it made me laugh.

"What?" she asked, curious again.

"Whenever I visit my mom, she always tells me that I was born thirty-five years old and that I get more middle-aged every year." I laughed, and then sighed. "Well, someone has to be the adult." I paused for a second. "You don't seem much like a freshman in high school yourself," I noted.

She made a face and changed the subject.

"So why did you go to Panama?"

"My mother got remarried late this summer. She wanted me to be her maid of honor. Then she wanted me to go with them on their honeymoon. To panama. I didn't really want to be gone from Charlie that long, but it was sort of a once in a lifetime experience for me. I'm glad I went."

"Do you approve of who she married?" she asked.

"Does it matter?" I countered. "I want her to be happy...and he is who she wants." There was the smallest bitter note in my voice. Did part of me wish she'd been happy with Charlie? Yes. But that ship had long ago sailed.

"That's very generous...I wonder," she mused.

"What?"

"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? No matter who your choice was?" She was suddenly intent, her eyes searching mine.

"She wouldn't care." I laughed out loud, remembering when I called her two years ago to tell her I was going out on my first date. Her only advise at the time had been to buy condoms. Apparently you couldn't trust guys to have them.But my mom did believe in gay rights even if other people didn't. So i knew she wouldn't have a problem with me dating Edythe.

"What?" she demanded.

"Maybe I'll tell you some other day."

She frowned. "And what would your dad think?"

"As long as whoever it is, doesn't touch, kiss or even look at me...he'd love it. Otherwise, I'd avoid him when he has his gun." I think although I'm not gay i said to myself trying to convince myself. This girl made me confused.

She laughed at that.

"So now are you going to tell me about your family?" I asked to distract her "It's got to be more interesting than mine."

She was instantly cautious. "What do you wanna know?"

"The Cullens adopted you?" I verified.

"Yes."

I hesitated for a moment. "What happened to your parents?"

"They died many years ago." Her tone was matter-of-fact.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled.

"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."

"And you love them." It wasn't a question. It was obvious in the way she spoke of them.

"Yes." She smiled. "I couldn't imaging two better people."

"You're very lucky."

"I know I am."

"And your brother and sister?"

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard.

"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me."

"Oh, sorry, I guess you have to go." I didn't want to get out of the car.

"And you probably want your truck back before Chief Swan gets home, so you don't have to tell him about the Biology incident." She grinned at me.

"I'm sure he's already heard. There are no secrets in Forks."

She laughed, and there was an edge to her laughter.

"Have fun at the beach...good weather for sunbathing." She glanced out at the sheeting rain.

"Won't I see you tomorrow?"

"No, Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."

"What are you going to do?" A friend could ask that, right? I hoped the disappointment wasn't too apparent in my voice.

"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainier."

I knew the area. It was a strange place to go, what with all the grizzlies.

"Take a shotgun, and have fun." I honestly couldn't imagine them having fun there.

A smile played on around the edge of her lips. "Will you do something for me this weekend?" She turned to look me straight in the face, utilizing the full power of her burning gold eyes.

I nodded helplessly.

"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So...try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" She smiled crookedly.

The helplessness had faded as she spoke. I glared at her.

"I'll see what I can do," I snapped as I jumped out into the rain. I slammed the door behind me with excessive force.

She drove off, smiling.

It wasn't until after I was inside and she was gone, that I realized she'd never given me my essay back.


	6. scary stories

As I sat in my room, trying to concentrate on the third act ofMacbeth, but I was really listening for my truck. I would have thought, even over the pounding rain, I could have heard the engine's roar. But when I went to peak out the window – again – it was suddenly there.

Friday came far too fast for my liking, and the first thing I heard were the whispers about my fainting spell. It was as if my friends had never seen me unconscious before. Theyallhad. Lauren was especially busy on the rumor mill end, and she wasn't even in the same biology class as me.

When Trig rolled around, Jessica shooed Melvin, a shy kid in class who rarely spoke to anyone, out of the seat next to me so she could sit there. I grimaced.

"So what is with Edythe and you?"

"We're friends."

"Kissing friends?"

"No, just friends. You know, normal, every day friends."

"You mentioned plans for next weekend."

"I'm planning a trip to Tacoma. She wants to drive me there."

"That sound like more than just friends to me."

A dozen different replies crossed my mind, but as I didn't want to completely piss her off, I just shrugged. "Perhaps we're heading toward something more, but we aren't there yet."

The worst part about Friday was that, even though I knew she wasn't going to be there, I still hoped. When I walked into the cafeteria with Jessica and Mike, I couldn't keep from looking at her table, where Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper sat talking, heads close together. And I couldn't stop the gloom that engulfed me as I realized I didn't know how long I would have to wait before I saw her again.

At my usual table, everyone was full of our plans for the next day. Mike was animated again, putting a great deal of trust in the local weatherman who promised sun tomorrow. Unfortunately, sun turned out to be a pipe dream more often than not. As long as it didn't start raining too heavily though, we could still make a driftwood fire, and go surfing – at least for those that did. I could paddle board, if the water wasn't too turbulent, but my two attempts at actual surfing a wave over the years had both ended with me almost drowning, which was just sad since I actually could swim pretty well.

Lauren kept on glancing at me maliciously, which didn't exactly surprise me, except for the fact that her animosity seemed to be more front and center today than normal. Apparently sitting with Edythe yesterday didn't earn me any favors with her. I couldn't really complain though, our bridge had been burnt years ago.

I tried to ignore her sneering attitude as best as possible

That night, I called Jacob, the Blacks phone range four times and then went to voicemail without any preamble. It wouldn't surprise me if Jacob and Billy were at the Clearwaters' house or Atearas.

"Hey, asshat, it's Bella. You know, you don't call, you don't write, I'd almost think you don't love me or something." I almost felt guilty for saying it as I hadn't bothered to call or write either since I'd been back, but he was the one that had convinced his dad to foist 'the dinosaur' – his words, not mine – off on me. I'd owed him a bit of silent treatment. Even if I was falling in love with the truck. "Anyways, I'm going to be coming to First Beach tomorrow. I expect you to be there. I owe you a hug."

Of all the friends I had in and around Forks, ours was the oldest. I couldn't really remember a time that I didn't know him. Sarah, Jacob's mom, used to babysit me when I was an infant while Charlie worked. Of course, she died when Jacob was nine, and then a couple years later, Billy lost the ability to use his legs to Diabetes.

When Charlie got home, I advised him I was going to La Push on Saturday. He was happy about that, but wasn't as excited about the Eggplant Parmesan I made. Even though he couldn't dispute that it tasted good.

I meant to sleep in, but an unusual brightness woke me. I opened my eyes to see a clear yellow light streaming through my window. I couldn't believe it. I hurried to the window to check, and sure enough, there was the sun. I went to my calendar and marked it, just like I always did when the sun made an actual appearance. My comment of the day was,Mercury in retrograde.I'd use another snarky comment the next time it occurred.

When it was late enough, I headed to Newton's. The Newton's Olympic Outfitters store was just north of town. I didn't go there often, except when I had to pick up something for Charlie, or if I was shopping for gifts for Billy and Harry, which Charlie always left to me to do. Lures tended to be the go to item.

In the parking lot I recognized Mike's Suburban, Tyler's Sentra, and J.D.'s very ugly panel wagon. As I pulled up next to their vehicles, I could see the group standing around in front of the Suburban. Eric was there, along with Ben and Conner. Jess was there, flanked by Angela and Lauren. To their left were Ashley, Katy and June. Mike was standing with Rob and J.D. Samantha and Lee were just pulling up in her Dodge Neon, with Samantha's two little sisters in the back, Kiera and Stacey, ages 14 and 7 respectively. I was surprised to see them along, but assumed that Samantha's mom fostered them off on her for the day. It was relatively typical.

Lee got out after they parked.

"I thought you were bringing your mom's minivan," Mike exclaimed.

Lee winced. "She needed it for something."

"Great, I guess we'll be piling into J.D.'s panel wagon and my vehicle then." Mike threw up his hands in a far too typical dramatic fashion. I hid my snicker.

Suddenly Mike turned toward me. "You can ride shotgun with me."

I grimaced. He should be offering that seat to Jessica, not me.

We loaded up Mike's vehicle first, and I managed to wedge Jessica into the bitch seat between Mike and me, appeasing her and annoying Mike at the same time. I considered it a double win.

Once the suburban was loaded up, everyone else piled in to the empty back half of J.D.'s panel wagon in a completely illegal fashion. I grimaced again.

It was only fifteen miles to La Push from Forks, with gorgeous, dense green forests edging the road most of the way and the wide Quillayute River snaking beneath it twice. I was glad I had the window seat. We'd rolled the windows down – the Suburban was a bit claustrophobic with nine people in it – and I tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible.

We finally reached the familiar mile-long crescent of First Beach. It was a breathtaking sight, even though I'd been here so many times over the years that it should be commonplace. The water was dark gray, even in the sunlight, white-capped and heaving to the gray, rocky shore. Islands rose out of the steel harbor waters with sheer cliff sides, reaching to uneven summits, and crowned with austere, soaring firs. The beach had only a thin border of actual sand at the water's edge, after which it grew into millions of large, smooth stones that looked uniformly gray from a distance, but close up they were every shade a stone could be: terra-cotta, sea green, lavender, blue gray, dull gold, and more. The tide line was strewn with huge driftwood trees, bleached bone white in the salt waves, some piled together against the edge of the forest fringe, some lying solitary, just out of reach of the waves.

I was glad now that I'd forgotten my paddle board in the back of my truck. I had my wetsuit on under my clothes, but there was no way I was going out in that water.

There was a brisk wind coming off the waves, cool and briny. Pelicans floated on the swells while seagulls and a lone eagle wheeled above them. The clouds still circled the sky, threatening to invade at any moment, but for now the sun shone bravely in its halo of blue sky.

We picked our way down to the beach, Mike leading the way to a ring of driftwood logs that we had used in the past, as had many other people. There was a fire circle already in place, filled with black ashes. Eric and Ben gathered broken branches of driftwood from the drier piles against the forest edge, and soon had a teepee-shaped construction built atop the old cinders.

While the drift wood was being made ready to set ablaze, Samantha and Lee had wandered offer, probably to find some place to make out. It left Kiera and Stacey with the rest of us. Stacey hid behind my back – part of a shyness she'd picked up after her Dad had died two years prior. She peaked under my arm as Mike picked up one of the smaller branches to light with a cigarette lighter.

He noticed her peaking. "Do you like driftwood fires?" he asked kneeling to see her better.

She nodded, letting out a giggle, then hid behind my back again.

He grinned. "You shouldn't hide. Come out and watch the pretty colors."

He lit the branch in his hand on fire. Placing it carefully against the teepee. He did the same with another smaller branch. The flames started to lick quickly up the dry wood.

"Blue," she said in an excited voice, coming out from behind me enough to really watch.

The flames kept her attention enough that she didn't notice the chatter about getting a keg down here later. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't help but overhear. It was J.D.'s idea of a really good time, but I wasn't a fan of it myself. I thought his brother, Luke, was off at college, but perhaps he knew someone else with an ID to buy alcohol.

Eventually, Mike, Conner and Ben decided to hike to the nearby tidal pools. Angela and Jessica decided to go as well. I wanted to go too, even though the hike was a pain. When Lauren said she was going to stay, I decided to follow them.

The hike wasn't all that long, but as we entered the forest, and the sun was filtered by the trees, casting a green glow, it left the place feeling strangely eerie, in spite of the laughter ahead of me. I had to watch each step I took very carefully, avoiding roots below and branches above, trying hard to obey Edythe's request to be careful in spite of myself. Eventually I broke through the emerald confines of the forest and found the rocky shore again. It was low tide, and a tidal river flowed past us on its way to the sea. Along its pebbled banks, shallow pools that never completely drained were teeming with life.

I was very cautious not to lean too far over the little ocean ponds. The others were fearless, leaping over the rocks, perching precariously on the edges. I sat on one of the more stable rocks that I preferred and sat there cautiously, spellbound by the natural aquarium below me. The bouquets of brilliant anemones undulated ceaselessly in the invisible current, twisted shells scurried about the edges, obscuring the crabs within them, starfish stuck motionless to the rocks and each other, while one small eel with white racing stripes wove through the bright green weeds, waiting for the sea to return. I was completely absorbed, except for one small part of my mind that wondered what Edythe was doing now, and an even smaller part of my mind wondered where the hell Jacob was.

I don't know how long we were there, but finally Mike's stomach growled loud enough that even I could hear it. We all decided to head back then. I hurried through the forest this time, and fell down a couple of times for my troubles. I knew the scrapes I got on my hands would smart tomorrow, but they weren't too bad at the moment.

When we got back to First Beach, Jacob had finally arrived, but he wasn't alone. It looked like a whole bunch of the Quileutes had decided to show. What had he done? Sent out a smoke signal? I smirked to myself at my own ingenuity.

Amongst the people that had shown up were Embry, Quil, Seth, Brady, Collin, Jessica, Kim, Paul, and several others. A little ways off from them were Sam and Jared, both of their heads had been shaved. I frowned. Had they lost some sort of bet? In general, the Quileutes were proud of their long hair, it didn't make sense why they'd cut it. Leah was a little ways away, glaring daggers at Sam.

When I reached the primary group, I headed straight for Jacob, deliberately mussing up the top of his head.

"Hey," he grumbled, trying to smooth down what I'd messed up. "Not the hair."

I laughed, reaching forward and mussing his hair again, just because I could. "I missed you when I was in Panama."

"I missed you too." I could see his blush even with his copper skin. I ignored it. Sometime over the last year he'd developed a crush on me. I'd seen it happen. But I didn't feel that way about him. I couldn't. He was too young. It was funny, because really he was only a few months younger than Edythe.

"Have you heard from your sisters lately?"

"Yeah, Rebecca went and married that guy, Solomon. She sent me an invite to give to you. But you were in Panama at the time."

"Unless she also sent a plane ticket, I couldn't have gone anyway. Did you get to go?"

"Nah, couldn't afford the flight out, besides I had to stick around here. Dad was put out because he hasn't even met the guy yet and so he didn't want to go. Somebody has to be around in case dad needs anything. I don't see Rachel coming back from college to help."

I understood what he was saying completely.

"So...how are you liking the dinosaur?" he asked it super slyly, like he was trying to sneak the question by as casual.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I love it. I call it the thing."

He laughed out loud. "Only you would love that pile of scrap metal."

"It is not scrap metal," I exclaimed, perturbed by his statement.

He opened his mouth to reply.

"Well look at Isabella and Jacob sitting in a tree," Lauren mocked.

Jacob blushed again, but I turned to glare at her. "Do yourself a favor, and go get a life, Lauren Casey Mallory."

She ground her teeth together. I knew she hated her middle name, which was why I used it. Had she forgotten I knew it?

"I guess you don't really care all that much about Edythe Cullen after all. I understand now why you didn't invite her. I'll be sure to make sure she knows that you are otherwise involved."

I opened my mouth to tell her that we were just friends, not sure if I was referring to Jacob and me, or Edythe and me. But Sam spoke before I had the chance, his voice loud.

"Are you talking about one of Dr. Carlisle Cullen's kids?" His words were cold in a way that left no doubt of his opinion of Edythe and her family.

"Yes, do you know them?" Lauren asked, turning halfway toward him.

"The Cullens don't come her," he said in a tone that closed the subject and then walked back over to Jared.

The whole thing made me super curious.

"Jake, I've got to talk to Sam for a few minutes." I told him and then headed towards where Sam was once again standing.

Jared saw me coming, and nodded his head toward me. Sam turned and met me halfway.

"Bella, it's good to see you. Will you be at the wedding?"

"Of course...but what was all that about?" I nodded back towards Lauren, to indicate what I was talking about in case he didn't know.

Instead of answering me, he lifted me in a hug, crushing me close. Suddenly his mouth was at my ear. "I smell her all over you, she's dangerous. You need to learn to keep better company, Bella." His voice was so quiet that I wouldn't have heard his words if there'd even been a foot of space between us. He sat me back on my feet. "I believe that Leah had a question for you. You should go check."

I was thoroughly confused, but followed his instruction and headed towards Leah.

"Hey, Leah."

"Oh, Bella. How are you?"

"I'm good. Sam said you had something to ask me."

"Yeah, that's right. Will you do me the honor of being one of my bridesmaids?"

I blinked, surprised. I hadn't seen that one coming. "Sure."

"Great." She smiled genuinely.

We talked for a few minutes, but eventually she pulled away to go yell at Seth, who'd gotten his hands on a red solo cup. I hadn't even noticed the keg before, but there it was, not twenty feet from the fire. I rolled my eyes and walked into the forest, planning to head to one of my favorite outcroppings, a small cliff that was about forty feet up. It was a great spot to cliff dive, but it was also just a great place to look out and watch the sea. Jacob could be adventurous and cliff dive all he liked, I'd rather just watch the ocean.

I walked through the forest by memory, carefully avoiding the many gnarled roots and randoms rocks along the path. It was a path I'd walked a hundred times in the last few years. If it weren't for my lack of coordination, I'd probably be able to walk it blindfolded.

I was almost there, when a noise a little ways deeper in the forest stopped me. I turned toward the noise. It was Sam, his shirt in one hand. I went to call out, but he pulled his shorts down, leaving him completely naked. My eyes bulged, practically swallowing my tongue.

I couldn't call out now, he'd be embarrassed for sure if he knew I was seeing this. I closed my hand over my mouth. Some very small part of me noted that he had a decent pair of gluts. I told that part of me to shut up, trying to convince myself to turn away, even as he tied his clothes to his leg with a leather strap.

Suddenly he started to shiver violently. I didn't understand what was happening, and I debated with myself if I should go help when suddenly he just exploded. There were no other words for the violent outburst in front of my eyes. What fell to the ground wasn't Sam, but a giant black wolf. In fact, it was the largest black wolf I'd ever seen.

I couldn't help myself, I screamed.

The wolf turned toward me and it almost appeared like it's eyes widened. I didn't stick around to find out anymore, my fight or flight instincts finally kicking in. I took off, running towards my original destination. I knew I was too deep to get back to the beach before that thing got to me.

I could see the cliff ahead when I heard Sam shout at me, "Bella stop!"

His voice sounded far too close, I wasn't the fastest runner on earth, but there'd been enough distance between us, that that shouldn't have been possible. I didn't stop.

I reached the cliff, not even looking back before I flung myself off of it.

I fully recognized how strong the waves were that were crashing against the cliff only half a second before I hit the water. I dived deep, kicking out to keep from being sucked against the cliff from the heavy wave.

The current of the water shoved me toward the cliff against my best effort. I knew I was going to be rammed into it in another second, two tops, and there was no way I could stop it.

Suddenly an arm went around my waist, yanking me close to a body. It was Sam. We surfaced a couple seconds later.

"LET ME GO!" I shrieked, trying to kick out and hit something hard enough to get him to let me go.

"Bella. Calm down," he shouted back. "If I let you go now, you'll drown, this current is far too strong for you."

"What the hell are you?" I demanded, still trying to get away, in spite of his words. He just tightened his grip around my waist and swam us toward shore. Not first beach, but another smaller beach just a little ways south of it and us.

"You obviously saw, Bella. What do you think I am?"

"I don't know, a lab experiment gone wrong." I knew what he was. Of course I did. But I couldn't even force my mind to say the word, let alone speak it out loud.

He let out one short laugh, no humor in it at all as we reached the beach. "No, Bella, I'm a werewolf."

My mind went briefly blank. Then I started to think. "That isn't possible."

"Of course it is. You just saw it happen." His voice was bitter.

"How long?" There's no way he'd always been able to do that.

"Since a few weeks after the cold ones moved to town."

I swallowed. I'd heard that before, when Charlie had been ranting about Billy.

"The Cullens," I barely uttered the words.

"Yes, but how did you know that?"

"Billy warned Charlie about them, trying to convince him to drive them out of town. But it isn't possible. There's no such thing as werewolves. There's no such thing as vampires."

"Yes, there are. Even you can't deny what your own eyes just saw."

"How? Why?" The words slipped out, part of me didn't want to know, but I needed to. I needed to understand what world I'd just been unwittingly dropped into.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I can't give you the answers you're looking for. You're not part of the tribe, and you certainly aren't supernatural. You aren't even supposed to know what you've already found out."

I groaned, my head spinning. It wasn't possible. I didn't care what I just saw. These kinds of things were only real in scary stories. I put my head in my hands. "Does Leah know?"

"She's familiar with the legends, but she doesn't believe in them."

"How can you marry her with such a huge secret?"

"I'm not allowed to tell her."

I looked up, his teeth were clenched. It was quite obvious he wasn't happy about that.

Suddenly something clicked, his hair. Jared's hair. "And Jared?"

"You're quick. Yes, he's like me. Come on, I'll help you get back to your friends."

He reached toward me – I hadn't even consciously realized I'd put a few feet of space between him and me. "Don't touch me," I practically screamed the words.

He flinched. "Bella, it's still me. I won't hurt you. I'm a protector, that's what I'm here for." He clenched his jaw again, but what he didn't say became perfectly clear. He was the defense against the opposing supernatural force that I couldn't quite believe existed.

His whispered words to me earlier started to make more sense.

I took his hand when he reached forward again.

It took longer to get back to First Beach then I liked, and he let me continue on my own when we reached the edge of the forest.

Jacob saw me first and raced over to me. "Where'd you go to?"

"Oh, just to our favorite cliff." There was a slight tremble to my words, but the lie was nowhere near as obvious as normal, probably because it wasn't a complete lie. I had gone there after all.

"Ah, okay." Jacob didn't sound convinced.

"Hey, Bella," Mike shouted from the fire. "The weather is about to take a nasty turn. We're heading back."

I gave him a thumbs up, so he'd know I heard.

"I've got to go," I murmured to Jacob, hugging him hard for just a second as I sent up a silent prayer to whoever was listening that he never became like Sam, that he never found out what I just had.

Then I turned and jogged over to Mike.

When we got to the Suburban, the others were already loading everything back in. I crawled into the backseat by Angela and Tyler. I leaned my head against Angela's shoulder, forcing myself not to cry. I'd do it when I got home.


End file.
